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THE    LANDING, 


THE 


A)[ERICAN  SALMON  FISHERMAN 


By  henry   r.  WELLS 

AUTHOR   OF   "fly-rods   AND   FLY-TACKLE 


ILLUSTRATED 


NEW   YORK 
HARPER   &    BROTHERS,  FRANKLIN  SQUARE 

1886 


Va/4- 


»  ,  c   «    r  /  • 


Copyright,  1886,  by  Harper  &  Brothers. 
All  rights  reserved. 


INTRODUCTION. 


Salmon-fishing  is  to  trout-fishing  as  is  a  father  to  his 
son.  Though  the  stature  and  avoirdupois  of  the  one  may- 
exceed  that  of  the  other,  the  relationship  is  notwithstand- 
ing none  the  less  near.  Apart  from  the  immaterial  dif- 
ference of  size,  the  appliances  for  salmon-fishing,  the  gaff 
excepted,  are  the  appliances  for  trout-fishing.  Alike  as 
they  are  in  material,  alike  in  method  of  manufacture, 
and  alike  in  that  their  adaptability  to  the  end  in  view 
depends  on  the  more  or  less  perfect  embodiment  of  the 
same  principles  of  construction,  it  has  been  thought  un- 
necessary to  touch  upon  this  branch  of  our  subject  in 
other  than  the  briefest  possible  manner.  As  the  lawyer 
refers  in  his  bill  of  complaint  to  his  documentary  exhibits, 
and  by  that  reference  incorporates  them  in  and  makes 
them  part  of  his  plea,  so  I  refer  to  my  former  volume, 
"  Fly-Rods  and  Fly-Tackle,"  and  make  it  part  of  this. 
The  origin  and  quality  of  the  crude  materials,  the  meth- 
ods by  which  they  are  converted  into  the  finished  article, 
the  principles  which  should  govern  that  conversion,  and 
the  comparative  degree  of  excellence  which  each  material 
and  method  affords,  are  therein  considered  at  length.   To 

review  would  be  but  to  repeat. 
1 


870742 


ii  Introduction, 

As  in  that  book,  so  in  this  it  is  to  the  novice  that  I 
especially  address  myself.  Though  it  is  hoped  that  the 
expert  may  find  in  the  following  pages  matter  not  un- 
worthy of  his  consideration,  still  it  is  those  that  seek, 
rather  than  those  who  have  already  found,  whom  1  aspire 
to  direct. 

For  the  labor  expended  on  this  volume,  I  desire  no 
more  grateful  reward  than  the  same  kindly  reception 
which  has  been  the  good-fortune  of  its  predecessor. 

Henry  P.  Wells. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I. 


How  and  where  Salmon-fishing  may  be  Obtained — List  and  Map  of 
Sahiion-rivers Page  5 

CHAPTER  II. 

Rods  :  Theoretical  Efficiency  of — Single-handed  for  Salmon-fishing 
— Selection  of  — Spliced  vs.  Ferruled  —  Ferrules  for  Salmon- 
English  vs.  American  Salmon  —  Guides  and  Rings  for  —  Rod- 
making     25 

CHAPTER  III. 

Salmon-reels:  Essential  Features  of— Capacity  of — Object,  Im- 
portance, Construction,  and  Resistance  of  Click— Drags- Weight 
of  Salmon-reels.  Lines  :  Length  and  Cost  of  Salmon-lines — 
Spliced  Lines— How  to  Splice  a  Line— Heavy  Line  advisable— 
New  Style  of  Line.  Leaders  :  Selection  of  Gut — Testing  Gut 
and  Leaders — Twisted  and  Braided — Length  of — Construction 
of — Best  Color  for 45 

CHAPTER  IV. 

The  Gaff  :  The  "Veteran  Gaff,"  when  and  how  it  was  Obtained, 
its  Description  and  Portrait— Rules  for  Selection  or  Manufacture 
of  Gaff— Gaffing  from  a  Canoe— Birch  Canoes  for  Salmon-fish- 


iv  Contents. 

ing — Gaffing  from  Bank.  Clothing  :  Clothing  for  Daily  Use 
— Hat — Water-proof  Clothing — Waders.  Black  Flies  and  In- 
sect Pests  on  Salmon-streams,  and  Defensive  Measures  against 
them Page  65 

CHAPTER  V. 

Flies  :  Experiments  to  Determine  how  they  appear  to  Salmon — 
Visibility  of  Various  Types  of  Flies,  and  Varieties  of  Fly-tying 
Material — How  Objects  in  the  Water  appear  to  Fish— Eules  for 
Selection  of  Flies  on  the  Stream — Effect  of  Motion  of  Rod  on 
Appearance  of  Fly — Directions  for  Selection  of  Stock  of  Flies  at 
Home.  Hooks  :  Rules  for  Selection  of — The  Same  applied  to 
Various  Patterns  of— Pennell-hooks — Eyed-hooks  ....     89 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Casting  the  Fly  :  Casting  for  Trout  and  Salmon  Compared  and 
Distinguished — How  to  Cast  with  a  Salmon-rod — The  Over- 
head Cast — The  Switch  Cast.  Catching  the  Fish  :  Visibility 
of  Objects  above  the  Water  to  Fish — Timidity  of  Trout  and  Salm- 
on Compared — Why  Salmon  take  the  Fly — Where  to  Cast — 
Haunts  of  Salmon — Salmon-pools — Fishing  from  Bank — Manip- 
ulation of  Fly — Effect  of  Current  on  Action  of  Fly— Fishing 
from  Canoe — Manipulation  of  Fly — Striking — Method  of  Strik- 
ing Trout  and  Salmon  Radically  Different — Advantages  of  a 
Good  Rod— Manner  in  which  Trout  and  Salmon  take  the  Fly 
Compared — Keep  your  Hands  off  the  Lino  when  the  Fly  is  on 
the  Water — Rising  Short — Playing  a  Salmon — Conduct  of  Salm- 
on when  Fastened — How  to  Fish  for  Salmon,  a  Recapitulation 
ia  Narrative  Form 115 


THE 
AMERICAN  SALMON-FISHERMAN . 


C II AFTER  I. 
now  AND  WHERE  SALMON-FISHING  MAY  BE  OBTAINED. 

That  where  there  was  one  fly-fisherman  in  the  United 
States  ten  years  ago  there  are  ten  now,  is  a  general  and 
perhaps  un  exaggerated  belief.  He  who  is  interested  in 
and  familiar  with  an  art  almost  necessarily  looks  above 
and  beyond  the  level  he  may  have  attained,  and  aspires 
to  the  highest  development  in  it  of  which  he  may  have 
knowledge.  Especially  is  this  so  in  regard  to  fly-fishing. 
Its  practice  is  begun  with  indifference — oftentimes  out 
of  mere  good-fellowship,  and  to  calm  the  missionary  zeal 
of  some  persistent  friend.  But  it  is  followed  with  an  en- 
joyment which,  should  opportunity  serve,  speedily  ripens 
into  enthusiasm,  and  he  who  was  but  recently  a  less  than 
lukewarm  acolyte  is  now  a  zealot.  Such  was  the  experi- 
ence of  the  writer,  and  such  has  been%th^\4^p;jrience,  c^f  J 
many  of  his  friends.  Expose  the  pTcrper  t^emperament  lo' 
the  contagion  and  the  disease  suVdy^^cJlpw^,  'aA(|,'tJ^e 
mental  constitution  undergoes  a  permanent  and  indelible 
modification  as  the  result.  Recreation  must  thereafter  be 
sought  rod  in  hand,  and  face  to  face  with  nature. 

May  this  disease, — if  disease  it  may  be  called, — every 


6  The  American  /Salmon-fisherman. 

moment  of  which  is  fraught  with  health  and  happiness, 
become  epidemic  among  my  countrymen  ! 

We  may  safely,  assume  then,  that  every  fly-fisherman 
hopes  and  aspires  some  day  to  try  his  skill  against  the 
salmon,  since  all  admit  that  to  be  the  crowning  delight 
of  angling,  and  its  highest  development. 

But  two  formidable  obstacles  confront  the  American 
angler  at  the  outset  of  his  career  as  a  salmon-fisherman. 
As  dollars  do  not  grow  on  every  bush,  so  salmon  are  not 
to  be  found  in  every  river.  He  neither  knows  where  nor 
how  to  obtain  the  opportunity;  or,  having  secured  that, 
he  does  not  know  what  to  do  with  the  opportunity  when 
it  is  had. 

Discouraged  by  these  considerations,  many  view  sal- 
mon-fishing in  about  the  same  light  as  hippotamus-hunt- 
ing  on  the  head-waters  of  the  Congo — as  something  in 
which  they  would  dearly  love  to  take  part,  but  which  is 
so  distant  and  unattainable  as  to  lie  beyond  reasonable 
hope. 

It  is  the  purpose  of  this  book  to  remove  these  obstacles 
from  the  path  of  the  many  who  need  information,  rather 
than  to  advise  or  instruct  the  fortunate  few  who  already 
have  the  lamp  of  experience  to  guide  their  steps. 

The  opportunity  for  salmon-fishing  is  a  mere  question 
of  leisure  time  and  dollars  and  cents.  I  am  well  aware 
;9f%that  ^w;df  kiiyjtlized  nature  which  ordains  that  if  you 
'h'^ve  tlie  money  540U 'shall  not  have  the  time,  and  that  if 
r^iC'J^ilve^fe^t^^D!^,  y,©u  shall  not  have  the  money.  But 
th'efe'  are  many  exceptions  to  this  rule,  and  is  it  not  to 
force  our  way  into  this  charmed  circle  that  we  rise  and 
renew  the  bitter  struggle  of  life  each  morning,  and  the 
"  daily  contact    with    the   things  we  loathe"  ?      Nor   is 


How  and  Where  Salmon-JisMng  may  be  Obtained.    7 

salmon-fishing  so  expensive  as  to  be  beyond  the  means  of 
any  man  of  moderate  income,  provided  he  is  not  over- 
burdened with  dependants — especially  if  he  will  keep  a 
passably  watchful  eye  on  his  pleasure-expense  account 
during  the  remainder  of  the  year. 

While  upon  the  subject,  it  is  as  well  at  once  to  dispose 
of  the  question  of  expense.  It  may  be  considered  as 
composed  of  four  elements;  i.e.,  travelling  expenses,  cost 
of  fishing-right,  guide  and  boat  hire,  and  living  expenses. 

The  first — travelling  expenses — is  of  course  a  variable 
quantity,  dependent  on  distance  and  other  conditions; 
and  while  its  amount  cannot  be  computed  till  both  the 
point  of  departure  and  destination  are  known,  after  that 
it  is  readily  ascertainable. 

The  cost  of  the  fishing-privilege  also  varies  with  cir- 
cumstances, and  from  a  dollar  a  day  up  to  twenty-five 
dollars  a  week  for  each  rod.  The  latter  should  command 
a  position  on  a  really  first-class  river,  where  fish  are  not 
only  abundant,  but  also  large.  A  higher  demand  than 
this  is  generally  considered  extortionate,  unless  coupled 
with  very  unusual  advantages  outside  of  the  mere  fishing- 
right.  These,  too,  are  the  prices  asked  for  "  casual "  rods 
— those  who  come,  remain  but  a  few  days,  and  depart. 
The  angler  who  wishes  the  water  for  two  or  three  weeks 
or  a  month  can  usually  obtain  better  terms,  since  he  is  a 
more  desirable  customer — especially  if  he  is  one  of  a 
party  sufficient  in  number  to  occupy  the  entire  fishing  in 
negotiatipn.  Then  the  offer  of  a  lump  sum  for  the  exclu- 
sive use  of  the  water  during  a  fixed  period  will  generally 
secure  it,  so  that  the  proportion  to  be  contributed  by  each 
rod  will  fall  considerably  below  the  rate  for  "  casuals." 

The  hire  of  men  and  canoes  depends  on  the  inaccessi- 


8  The  American  SalTnon-fisherman, 

bility  of  the  river — in  short,  on  demand  and  supply.  It 
ought  not  anywhere  to  exceed  two  dollars  and  a  half  a 
day  if  the  angler  feeds  the  men,  and  three  dollars  if  they 
feed  themselves.  Each  angler  will  usually  require  a 
canoe  and  two  men  to  himself,  the  entire  expense  of 
which  is  included  in  the  preceding  estimate.  Since  the 
Great  Eastern  has  ceased  to  plough  the  wave,  many  think 
there  is  no  vessel  now  afloat  large  enough  to  give  room 
for  unembarrassed  action  to  two  fly-fishermen  when 
actually  on  the  war-path.  But  however  this  may  be  in 
trout-fishing,  where  salmon  are  in  question  a  free  field  is 
absolutely  indispensable.  I  was  about  to  say  "a  free 
field  and  no  favor" — giving  the  quotation  in  full  which 
suggested  the  phrase.  But  in  so  doing  I  should  mislead. 
The  salmon-fisher  who  would  also  be  a  salmon-catcher 
not  only  needs  favor,  but  all  the  favors  that  a  kind  Prov- 
idence will  bestow.  Even  then  victory  will  all  too  often 
plunge  beneath  the  rushing  water  in  the  wake  of  the 
salmon's  tail  instead  of  perching  upon  the  rod,  though 
its  owner  woo  her  with  every  resource  of  his  art.  If 
the  fishing  is  from  the  bank,  one  attendant  is  enough; 
but  if  from  canoe,  the  angler  will  absolutely  require  a 
boat  to  himself  and  two  men  to  handle  it. 

The  amount  to  be  allowed  for  living  expenses  will  de- 
pend on  whether  the  angler  camps,  or  boards  at  some 
convenient  hotel  or  farm-house.  The  quantity  and  qual- 
ity of  his  drink  and  smoke  will  be  a  not  unimportant  fac- 
tor as  well.  But  leaving  this  element  for  each».to  meas- 
ure for  himself,  the  cost  of  living  in  any  hotel  in  the 
fishing-country  will  not  exceed  two  dollars  a  day.  At  a 
farm-house,  or  in  camp,  it  should  be  less. 

When  Lord  Ashburton  worsted  us  in  the  determination 


How  and  Where  Salmon  JisMng  may  he  Obtained,    9 

of  our  northern  boundary  and  pushed  the  line  so  far 
south  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  he  left  us  few  salmon-rivers  on 
our  Atlantic  seaboard.  What  is  done,  is  done,  and  it  is 
too  late  to  remedy  that  now;  but  whenever  we  look  at 
the  map  it  is  difficult  to  repress  a  sigh  of  regret  that  our 
commissioners  were  not  salmon-fishermen. 

In  the  last  century  salmon  swarmed  in  every  river  on 
our  coast,  at  least  as  far  south  as  the  Connecticut.  They 
have  disappeared.  It  would  be  well  were  it  thoroughly 
and  widely  understood  that  a  river  once  thus  depleted 
remains  forever  barren,  unless  man  intervenes  and  re- 
stocks it  by  patient,  protracted,  and  persevering  effort. 
Nature  has  implanted  within  the  salmon  an  impulse  to 
breed  in  the  river  where  it  was  itself  bred,  and  in  no 
other.  When  an  artificial  barrier  closes  the  ascent  of  a 
stream  they  still  return  until  they  die.  But  their  spawn, 
necessarily  cast  in  localities  unsuited  to  its  development, 
perish.  No  other  generation  succeeds  that  in  existence 
when  the  obstacle  was  created,  and  the  river  once  swarm- 
ing with  fish  speedily  becomes  barren.  And  so  it  will 
remain,  even  though  the  original  conditions  be  restored, 
until  a  new  race  is  introduced  by  man. 

Since  salmon  obtain  their  growth  in  the  sea  and  lose 
rather  than  gain  in  fresh  water,  it  would  seem  as  if  all 
rivers  ought  to  furnish  fish  of  approximately  the  same 
size.  Such  is  not  the  fact.  In  some  rivers,  excluding 
extremes  as  it  seems  to  me  should  always  be  done  in  such 
cases,  the  fish  will  run  about  ten  or  twelve,  pounds  in 
weight,  and  a  fish  of  eighteen  pounds  will  be  a  rare  prize. 
In  other  rivers  no  larger,  and  in  the  immediate  neighbor- 
hood of  the  others,  the  fish  may  average  twenty  pounds 
and  over,  and  fish  of  forty  pounds  be  as  common  as  fish 


10  The  American  SalTnon-fislierman. 

of  eighteen  pounds  in  the  rivers  first  alluded  to.  This 
difference  is  not  a  casual  affair  of  a  single  season,  but  a 
permanent  characteristic  of  each  river.  A  satisfactory 
reason  for  this  -which  will  not  conflict  with  what  are  sup- 
posed to  be  settled  facts,  I  have  yet  to  hear.  Is  it  be- 
cause the  various  clans  of  fish  which  converge  to  their  na- 
tive rivers  when  leaving  the  sea,  diverge  on  their  depar- 
ture to  distinct  and  distant  parts  of  the  ocean  where  the 
conditions  favorable  to  growth  vary  ?  .  This  seems  diffi- 
cult to  reconcile  with  the  theory  that  they  linger  through- 
out their  ocean-life  near  the  mouth  of  their  native  rivers. 
Or  is  it  possible  that  the  universally  accepted  belief  that 
salmon  always  return  to  the  river  of  their  youth  needs 
further  investigation;  and  that  they  really  so  return  only 
until  they  have  attained  a  certain  size,  and  then  go  else- 
where ? 

I  can  suggest  the  question,  but  not  its  solution. 

The  Penobscot,  St.  Croix,  and  Dennys  River,  all  in 
Maine,  afford  some  fly-fishing  for  salmon.  Over  fifty  sal- 
mon were  thus  taken  at  Calais,  Milltown,  and  Barings,  on 
the  St.  Croix,  last  year.  Mr.  E.  M.  Stillwell,  one  of  the 
Maine  Fish  Commissioners,  writes  me:  "A  charming 
summer  trip  could  be  made  by  canoe  from  Vanceborough, 
on  the  European  Railroad,  down  the  St.  Croix  to  Barings, 
Milltown,  and  Calais.  We  think  good  fishing  [salmon] 
could  be  had  on  the  route." 

Dennys  River  is  a  fine  natural  stream,  but  much  ob- 
structed with  nets,  drift  trash  from  saw-mills,  and  other 
abominations.  It  is  worth  bearing  in  mind,  since  these 
abuses  will  doubtless  soon  be  brought  to  an  end.  Then 
this  river  will  be  well  worthy  the  attention  of  the  angler. 


How  and  Where  Salmon-fishing  may  he  Obtained,  ii 

The  Penobscot,  if  thoroughly  exploited,  would,  we  have 
no  doubt,  rank  well  as  a  salmon-river.  This  stream  is  a 
whole  sermon  by  itself  on  the  value  of  restocking  ex- 
hausted rivers.  It  was  practically  depleted,  while  now  it 
is  quite  productive.  When  a  river  has  been  frequented 
by  anglers  for  many  consecutive  years,  experience  has 
taught  where  salmon  may  be  expected  to  lie  at  each  part 
of  the  fishing  season,  and  at  every  stage  of  the  water.  In 
this  respect  the  Penobscot  is  under  a  decided  disadvan- 
tage. It  is  but  very  recently  that  salmon  have  begun  to 
run  there  in  any  number,  and  the  salmon-pools  of  the 
river  above  the  dam  at  Bangor  are  yet  to  be  located. 
Mr.  Stillwell  recommends  trial  at  Medway,  seventy-five 
miles  above  tide-water,  at  the  junction  of  the  east  and  west 
branches  of  the  river;  also  the  Ouissaticook,  a  very  cold 
stream,  rising  at  Mount  Katahdin  and  discharging  into  the 
East  Branch — especially  where  Springs  Brook  enters  on 
the  left  side  of  the  stream,  about  two  or  three  miles  below 
Grand  Falls.  Medway  is  twelve  miles  by  stage  from 
Mettawomkeg,  on  the  European  Railroad,  and  the  Ouissa- 
ticook can  be  reached  from  there  by  canoe.  He  says,  "  I 
have  no  doubt  salmon  could  now  be  taken  in_  all  these 
places,  and  good  pools  be  discovered." 

The  fishing  in  the  pool  below  the  dam  at  Bangor  was 
very  fair  in  1885;  and  though  we  hear  it  was  compara- 
tively little  fished,  and  then  principally  by  the  inexperi- 
enced, still  the  catch  was  quite  respectable  in  point  of 
numbers,  though  the  fish  ran  small,  seldom  exceeding  ten 
pounds  in  weight.  It  must,  however,  be  borne  in  mind 
that  this  was  the  first  year  of  direct  result,  as  far  as  the 
angler  is  concerned,  from  restocking  a  practically  ex- 
hausted river,  and  that  the  salmon  of  succeeding  years 


12  The  American  Salmon-fisherman. 

may  reasonably  be  expected  to  show  an  increase  in  size  as 
well  as  in  number.  This  fishing,  though  in  water  affected 
by  the  tide,  was  with  the  fly,  and  was  most  successful  in 
the  afternoon  and  on  an  ebb-tide.     The  water  is  fresh. 

Let  us  now  assume  that  a  gentleman  bearing  the  time- 
honored  name  of  John  Doe  and  three  companions — four 
rods  in  all,  which  is  large  enough  for  a  party — are  in 
quest  of  salmon-fishing,  and  let  us  profit  by  their  exam- 
ple. 

Had  our  friend  Mr.  John  Doe  decided  to  try  one  of 
these  Maine  rivers,  he  would  have  written  to  Mr.  Still- 
well,  at  Bangor,  as  to  whom  he  should  engage  as  attend- 
ants, and  for  such  other  and  further  information  as  he 
might  require.  And  we  have  no  doubt,  since  Mr.  Still- 
well  is  not  only  a  thorough  angler  but  an  enthusiast  in 
matters  pertaining  to  his  oflice,  that  he  would  have 
replied  to  Mr.  Doe's  request  in  that  spirit  of  fellow- 
feeling  which  always  characterizes  the  true  angler  toward 
his  brothers  in  the  art.  And  had  Mr.  Doe  gone,  he 
would  have  remembered  that  the  fishing-right  co§t  him 
nothing,  that  he  was  reaping  a  harvest  he  had  not  sown, 
nor  had  he  borne  any  part  in  the  great  labor  and  expense 
of  which  it  was  the  fruit.  He  would  also  remember  that 
though  the  importance  of  restocking  our  depleted  waters 
with  fish  is  daily  growing  in  public  appreciation,  still  the 
time  has  not  yet  come  when  the  needs  of  the  work  do  not 
tax  its  available  resources  to  the  elastic  limit.  He  would 
therefore  have  thought  it  graceful,  to  say  the  least,  to 
make  some  pecuniary  contribution  to  further  the  work  on 
that  river  in  the  future. 

But  sport  rather  than  economy  is  Mr.  Doe's  object,  and 
tradition  and  his  own  inclination  direct  him  to  Canada. 


How  and  Where  Salmon-Jishing  may  he  Obtained.  13 

He  therefore  writes  to  some  advertising  agency  in  his 
own  or  some  neighboring  city,  asking  which  of  the  news- 
papers of  Montreal,  Quebec,  or  St.  John,  N.  B.,  circulates 
most  largely  among  the  class  likely  to  own  or  lease  sal- 
mon-fishings, and  what  will  be  charged  to  insert  the  fol- 
lowing advertisement  therein : 

"  Wanted,  Salmon-Fishing.  Address,  with  particulars, 
John  Doe,  P.  O.  Box  X.  Y.  Z.,  New  York  City." 

It  by  no  means  follows  because  a  man  owns  a  piece  of 
property  that  therefore  he  must  monopolize  its  use.  Sal- 
mon-fishings are  no  exceptions  to  this  rule.  The  owner 
may  occupy  it  but  a  portion  of  the  season,  or  ill-health 
or  other  causes  may  prevent  him  from  using  it  at  all. 
Under  such  circumstances  he  may  gladly  avail  himself  of 
the  ojjportunity  of  deriving  an  income  from  his  water 
by  turning  it  over  to  some  other  person  for  the  time 
being. 

This  advertisement  will  bring  an  abundance  of  answers 
— answers  showing  a  lofty  contempt  for  particulars,  but 
abounding  in  glittering  generalities,  as  answers  of  this 
description  are  prone  to  do.  Mr.  Doe  therefore  selects 
those  which  appear  most  promising,  and  writes  to  each  as 
follows,  making  such  omissions,  modifications,  and  ad- 
ditions as  the  information  already  at  hand  may  require  or 
suggest. 

Your  answer  to  my  advertisement  in  the 

has  been  received.     Will  you  kindly 

furnish  this  further  information  in  reference  to  your  fish- 
ing ?- 

1st.  Is  the  fishing  from  canoe,  or  from  bank? 

2d.  Is  wading  advisable  or  necessary? 


14  The  American  Salmon-fisherman. 

3d.  Is  the  water  in  its  normal  condition  clear  or  col- 
ored? 

4th.  What  is  about  the  average  width  of  the  stream  at 
your  fishing  ? 

5th.  Do  you  give  the  right  to  the  entire  stream,  or  but 
to  one  side  ? 

6th.  How  may  your  fishing  behest  reached  from  Mont- 
real (or  Quebec,  or  St.  John,  N.  13.,  as  the  case  may 
require)? 

7th.  Are  black-flies,  gnats,  and  mosquitoes  an  annoyance 
during  (state  time  of  proposed  fishing),  and  to  what  ex- 
tent? 

8th.  What  are  the  living  accommodations — camp,  farm- 
house, hotel,  or  tent  ?  If  at  farm-house,  or  hotel,  what  is 
the  usual  daily  charge  ? 

9th.  How  many  attendants  will  each  rod  require  ? 

10th.  Where  can  they  be  obtained  ? 

11th.  What  wages  will  they  require  ? 

12th.  Can  you  place  me  in  communication  with  good 
men  familiar  with  your  water  ? 

13th.  Must  we  take  our  own  supplies,  or  any  portion  of 
them,  except  drink  and  smoke,  with  us  ? 

14th.  If  we  must  take  any  portion  of  our  supplies  with 
us,  where  would  you  advise  us  to  procure  them  ? 

15th.  What  flies,  and  of  what  size,  would  you  recom- 
mend us  to  be  provided  with  for  the  time  we  propose  to 
fish? 

16th.  Give  weight  of  the  largest  fish  usually  taken  with 
the  fly  on  your  water  ? 

17th.  Under  fairly  favorable  conditions,  what  should  be 
the  average  catch  a  week  for  an  industrious  and  tolerably 
skilled  rod  in  that  portion  of  the  season  during  which  we 
desire  to  fish  ? 


How  and  Where  Salmon  fishing  Quay  he  Obtained.  15 

18th.  Ilow  many  rods  will  your  fishing  accommodate 
without  one  inconimoding  the  others? 

19th.  Can  and  will  you  name  any  one  in  this  vicinity 
who  has  fished  your  water  ? 

Now,  human  nature  is  weak,  and  one  of  its  weaknesses 
is  to  say  as  little  as  possible  about  the  defects,  and  to 
dilate  freely  on  the  merits  of  any  property  in  negotiation. 
Mr.  Doe  knows  how  easy  it  is  to  overlook  what  one  does 
not  wish  to  see.  He  therefore  forestalls  as  far  as  possible 
such  inadvertence  by  numbering  each  question,  and  mak- 
ing it  a  paragraph  by  itself. 

To  this  point  the  inquirer  can  with  prudence  follow  in 
Mr.  Doe's  footsteps.  But  beyond  this,  each  case  will 
have  its  own  individuality,  and  his  own  judgment  and 
common-sense  must  be  his  guide. 

One  particular  will  certainly  appear  in  the  answer  to 
the  advertisement — the  price  of  the  fishing.  In  regard  to 
this,  what  has  been  said  of  "  casual "  rods  should  be  borne 
in  mind.  A  party  for  a  definite  time,  particularly  if  suffi- 
cient in  number  to  fill  the  fishing,  is  more  desirable  than 
a  single  individual  for  an  indefinite  time.  A  lump  sum 
in  such  case  may  be  offered  for  the  exclusive  use  of  the 
fishing  for  a  fixed  period,  but  not  until  either  by  some 
statement  in  the  answer  to  the  advertisement,  or  by  a 
direct  response  to  the  eighteenth  question  above,  the 
capacity  of  the  fishing  has  been  first  ascertained. 

Though,  as  a  usual  thing,  the  dealing  will  be  with  a 
brother  angler,  and  fair  and  courteous  treatment  will  be 
the  rule,  still  there  are  black  sheep  in  every  community. 
An  effort  may  be  made  by  some  such  rascal  to  palm  off 
worthless  water  upon  the  unsuspecting.     If,  therefore,  no 


16  The  American  Salmoii- fisherman. 

reference  is  made  by  the  owner  to  a  disinterested  party, 
or  if  the  would-be  lessee  has  but  the  corres2:)ondence  of 
the  lessor  to  depend  on  for  the  quantity  and  quality  of 
the  fishing,  the  name  of  the  Inspector  of  Fisheries  of  the 
Province  should  be  obtained  from  some  of  the  many 
American  papers  giving  attention  to  angling.  The  truth 
of  the  lessor's  allegations  can  then  be  verified  by  reference 
to  him,  or  to  such  sources  of  information  as  he  may  in- 
dicate. 

Whether  the  advertisement  is  published  in  Montreal, 
Quebec,  or  St.  John,  K.  B.,  is  immaterial.  Either  will 
probably  sufiiciently  answer  the  purpose.  But,  of  course, 
the  wider  the  diffusion  of  the  advertisement,  the  more 
numerous  will  be  the  answers,  and  the  more  extended  the 
range  of  choice.  Perhaps,  all  things  considered,  it  will 
be  best  to  advertise  in  St.  John,  N.  B.,  and  one  of  the 
other  cities  named,  since  then  the  greater  part  of  the 
available  field  will  be  covered. 

In  dismissing  this  branch  of  our  subject  it  may  be  well 
to  state  that  if  the  visiting  angler  is  worthy  of  courteous 
treatment,  he  may  rely  on  receiving  it  in  Canada.  The 
hog  may  occasionally  be  encountered  on  every  soil  and  in 
every  climate.  But  English,  Scotch,  Irish,  Canadian,  and 
American  anglers  are  all  pretty  much  alike  in  hearty 
good-fellowship  toward  their  brethren  in  the  gentle  art, 
and  in  the  kindness  and  consideration  which  they  almost 
invariably  extend  to  him  who,  through  misfortune  or 
ignorance,  stands  in  need  of  their  aid. 

A  word  or  two  of  explanation  may  not  be  amiss. 
The  word  "American"  will  be  used  throughout  this 
book  to  indicate  the  people  of  the  United  States.    While 


How  and  Where  Salmon-fishing  may  he  Obtained.    17 

in  23oint  of  fact  he  who  is  born  anywhere  between  the 
Atlantic  and  the  Pacific  oceans,  and  between  Lady  Frank- 
lin Bay  and  Cape  Horn,  is  really  an  American,  I  see 
that  Europeans,  by  common  consent,  apply  this  name  dis- 
tinctively to  our  own  countrymen,  and  I  find  that  our 
Canadian  neighbors  in  practice  acquiesce  therein.  It  is  a 
name  too  agreeable  to  the  sentiments  with  which  we  re- 
gard our  country  to  be  either  rejected  or  ignored — at  least 
by  me. 

If  the  reader,  whom  I  assume  to  be  a  good  angler, 
should  meet  one  equipped  for  fly-fishing,  should  salute  him 
with  the  customary  "  What  luck?"  should  receive  the  an- 
swer that  quite  a  number  had  been  caught,  and  should 
then  find  the  basket  filled  with  nothing  but  suckers,  he 
might  not  say  much,  but  he  would  do  some  pretty  lively 
thinking  not  altogether  flattering  to  him  of  the  suckers. 

So  on  a  salmon-stream.  Though  the  angler  equipped 
with  a  salmon-rod  be  up  to  his  knees  in  trout,  not  one  of 
less  than  five  pounds,  notwithstanding,  unless  salmon 
have  rewarded  his  efforts,  he  must  reply  to  the  usual 
greeting  "What  luck?" — "None."  Trout  are  regarded 
as  vermin  in  a  salmon-river — as  a  source  of  annoyance, 
and  not  of  sport. 

On  a  salmon-stream,  and  in  this  book,. the  word  "fish" 
means  "  salmon."     All  others  are  alluded  to  only  by  their 
distinctive  names. 
2 


18  The  American  Salr)ion-fis7ierman, 


LIST   OF   THE  SALMON-RIVERS  OF  CANADA. 

It  all  the  salmon-rivers  of  Canada  from  the  Straits  of 
Belle  Isle  to  the  Jacques  Cartier  above  Quebec,  including 
New  Brunswick,  are  not  included  in  the  following  list,  it 
is  certainly  through  no  lack  of  conscientious  effort  to  that 
end  on  my  part.  Its  preparation  was  begun  some  time 
before  a  word  of  this  book  was  written.  It  is  now  finished 
after  every  other  part  is  in  the  hands  of  the  printer. 
Every  available  source  of  information  has  been  exhausted 
in  the  endeavor  to  include  all  rivers  which  produce  salmon, 
and  to  exclude  all  that  do  not ;  also  to  intimate,  as  far  as 
possible,  the  condition  of  each  river  at  the  beginniug  of 
the  season  of  1886.  Besides  remarks,  a  system  of  nota- 
tion has  been  employed.  Three  asterisks  indicate  a  river 
of  the  first  merit,  a  lesser  number  those  of  inferior  grade, 
while  the  absence  of  any  mark  of  the  kind  is  intended  to 
convey  the  meaning  that  the  stream  is  of  little  worth. 
The  rivers  of  Nova  Scotia,  those  flowing  into  the  Bay  of 
Fundy  from  New  Brunswick,  and  the  tributaries  of  the 
St.  John,  are  not  included  in  this  system  of  notation,  my 
information  not  being  sufficient  to  justify  me  in  so  doing. 

Undoubtedly  the  efforts  of  the  Dominion  Government 
to  restock  those  streams  which  have  become  depleted,  and 
to  increase  the  supply  of  those  which  are  now  productive, 
will  eventually  in  some  measure  produce  the  desired 
effect.  Those  who  wish  well  to  Canada  would,  however, 
feel  much  more  sanguine  of  this  result,  if  the  mouths  of 
at  least  many  of  its  salmon-rivers  were  less  cruelly  netted. 
Indeed,  the  casual  observer  would  think  any  escape  im- 
possible from  the  labyrinths  of  nets,  which,  for  miles  below 


List  of  the  Salmon-rivers  of  Canada,  19 

the  head  of  the  tide  and  in  close  proximity  to  one  another, 
bar  the  ascent  of  the  salmon  to  their  spawning-grounds. 
It  is  true  that  the  law  directs  that  the  nets  be  raised  from 
Saturday  evening  till  Monday  morning.  How  well  this 
law  is  observed  I  will  not  say,  but  of  the  many  fish  I  saw 
which  had  been  taken  with  the  fly  on  the  Restigouche 
River  during  June  and  July,  1885,  hardly  more  than  one 
in  ten  was  free  from  w^ounds  unmistakably  due  to  the 
meshes  of  the  nets.  Since  the  efforts  of  the  Government 
to  restock  and  increase  the  supply  of  salmon  are  paid  for 
from  the  taxes  of  the  people  at  large,  it  would  seem  to  an 
outsider  that  they  had  some  claim  to  consideration,  and 
that  the  wish — a  general  wish,  as  it  appeared  to  me — that 
the  product  of  this  expenditure  should  be  marketed  in  the 
dearest  rather  than  in  the  very  cheapest  market,  and  so 
as  to  benefit  the  many  rather  than  the  few,  was  not  un- 
reasonable. It  would  certainly  seem  that  if  the  netters 
were  compelled  to  raise  their  nets  for  another  twenty-four 
hours  during  the  middle  of  the  week,  they  would  even 
then  have  more  than  the  lion's  share  of  the  fishing.  The 
netters  receive  from  six  to  ten  cents  a  pound  for  the  fish 
at  the  freezer.  The  average  cost  to  the  angler  in  money 
disbursed  within  the  Dominion  for  every  pound  he  hopes 
to  take — ^to  say  nothing  of  what  he  really  does  kill — far 
exceeds  this.  The  large  annual  income  in  ready  cash  re- 
ceived by  the  people  of  the  State  of  Maine  from  visiting 
sportsmen,  furnishes  solid  food  for  thought  in  this  con- 
nection. 

Should  any  reader  find  the  following  list  of  value,  he 
should  join  me  in  thanking  Mr.  J.  W.  Skelton,  of  Mont- 
real (without  whose   patient  and  persistent  cooperation 


20  The  American  Salmon-fisherinan.. 

its  preparation  must  have  been  abandoned  in  despair),  and 
the  Fisheries  Branch  of  the  Department  of  Crown  Lands 
of  Canada. 

Rivers  discharging  on  the  north  shore  of  the  St.  Lawrence 
River  and  Gulf,  heginning  at  the  Straits  of  Belle  Isle, 
and  ending  at  the  Sagitenay  River. 

**Mqm7naux.—Yery  good  salmon  river,  formerly  yielding  52,500 
lbs.  salmon  in  the  season. 

**Carkeouitchipe.—'^eighhormg  stream  ;  steady  run  of  large  sal- 
mon. 

**St.  Augustine.— Well  supplied  with  salmon. 

**8heep  Bay. — Good  sized  river;  good  salmon-fishing. 

** Little  Meccatinci. — Discharges  large  body  of  water  by  several 
channels ;  fine  salmon-river. 

^^Netagamwu. — Large  deep  stream ;  high  falls  two  miles  from 
mouth  ;  swarms  with  .salmon  and  trout ;  fishing  only  to  the  falls. 

**Napeteleept. — Empties  into  spacious  bay  ;  abounds  with  salmon. 

**Etamamiou. — Celebrated  for  its  salmon  fly-fishing. 

**Coacoacho. — I)ischarges  into  fine  basin  ;  good  salmon  river. 

**Olomona8heebou. — Large  shoal  river ;  salmon  abundant,  as  well 
as  fine  white  trout. 

^^Washeecootai. — Grand  salmon  fly-fishing  at  falls.  - 

**Mu8quarro. — Rapid  river  ;  good  fly-fishing, 

**Kega8hka.—^'dXmon  plenty  ;  good  fly-fishing  to  great  falls. 

^^"^ Great  Natasquan. — One  of  the  best  rivers  in  the  Dominion; 
great  run  of  very  fine  large  salmon  ;  very  rapid  stream. 

Agwaniis. — Fishing  for  nets  only. 

Nabesipi. — Large  river,  nets  only. 

PasMshiboo. — Net-fishing  only. 

Little  WatshesTw. — Small  river,  much  run  down. 

^*  Great  WatsJieslio. — Very  fine  fly-fishing  ;  large  salmon. 

^Corneille. — Good  fly-fishing  for  salmon  and  trout. 

^^Bomaine. — Excellent  fly-fishing  for  salmon  and  white-trout ; 
pools  full  of  salmon  ;  average,  12  to  15  lbs. 

**Mingan. — Pools  hold  heavy  run  of  large  salmon  from  15  to  40 
lbs. ;  fishing  for  four  rods. 


List  of  the  Salmon  rivers  of  Canada.  31 

**JfamfcM.— Tributary  of  Mingan  ;  equally  good. 
*^8t.  John.  —Large  deep  river  ;  pools  begin  25  miles  from  mouth  ; 
very  fine  salmon-fishing. 
^Magpie. — Small  river  ;  salmon-fishing  for  one  rod. 
Supitagan. — Small  stream  ;  chiefly  net-fishing. 

*  Trout  Biver. — Fishing  for  one  rod. 

**^Mome. — A  noble  river;  large  salmon,  15  to  50  lbs.;  splendid 
fly-fishing  for  a  number  of  rods. 

*8te.  Marguerite- en-bas. —  Excellent  salmon-stream;  diflacult  en- 
trance ;  both  salmon  and  trout. 

Pentecost. — Much  run  down  ;  not  reliable. 

Calumet. — Much  run  down. 

*  Trinity. — Good  little  river  for  both  salmon  and  trout.  Salmon 
run  from  15  to  30  lbs. 

***Oodl)out. — A  very  fine  stream  ;  fish  abundant  from  15  to  40  lbs. ; 
trout  very  plenty. 

Betscie. — Much  run  down. 

Mistassini. — Run  down ;  needs  restocking. 

English. — Plenty  of  trout ;  not  much  good  for  salmon. 

*Bersimis. — Large  deep  river  ;  abundance  of  salmon,  15  to  45  lbs. 
The  main  river  is  too  large  and  deep  for  fly-fishing.  Reserved  for 
Indians. 

^'^'^JSfipimeicecaicnan. — Tributary  of  Bersimis  ;  good  fly  fishing  for 
salmon  of  from  15  to  45  lbs. 

Colombier. — Nets  and  trout  only. 

Plover. — Nets  and  trout  only. 

Blanche. — Nets  and  trout  only,  and  run  down. 

*Z«ra?.-!-Fair  fishing  both  for  salmon  and  trout. 

Sault  au  Cochon. — Run  down  by  lumbering.  High  falls  near 
mouth. 

*Partneuf. — Few  salmon  and  abundance  of  trout. 

Grand  Escoumains. — Once  very  good  ;  ruined  by  lumbering. 

Great  Bergeronne. — A  few  salmon,  abundance  of  trout. 

Rivers  discharging  into  the  8aguenay. 

**8t.  Margaret,  JH.  W.  Branch.— Large  tributary  of  Sagucnay ; 
fine  fly-fishing  for  salmon  of  from  10  to  22  lbs. ;  also  trout. 
**St.  Margaret,  AT.  E.  Branch. — Same  as  preceding. 


22  The  Americcm  Salmon-fisherman. 

*  Little  Saguenay. — A  few  salmon  10  to  22  lbs.,  and  abundance  of 
trout. 

'^St.  Jean  River. — Salmon  from  12  to  18  lbs.;  restocked  last  two 
years. 

^i?iw?'-aw-jf«rs.— Tributary  of  Saguenay,  owned  by  ]\Ir.  Pierce, 
who  has  a  registering  fish-slide  showing  the  number  of  fish  that 
pass  up  each  season;  has  five  good  pools  ;  salmon  12  to  18  lbs. 

Rivers  discharging  into  the  St.  Lawrence  above  Saguenay. 

Black  Salmon. — Formerly  good  ;  run  down ;  recently  restocked. 
Small  river. 

'^Murray. — A  few  salmon  caught  each  season  ;  recently  restocked  ; 
salmon  large — from  15  to  40  lbs. 

Bu  Oouffre. — Run  down  ;  restocked  last  two  years. 

*>^^.  Anne. — Fair  salmon-fishing  at  the  chute  ;  12  to  25  lbs. 

** Jacques  Gartier. — Good  salmon-fishing,  chiefly  grilse  ;  salmon 
early  in  season  from  10  to  15  lbs. ;  grilse,  2*  to  5  lbs. 

Rivers  discharging  into  the  St.  Laiorence  on  south  side, 
below  Quebec. 

Quelle. — Four  mill-dams  ;  fish  cannot  ascend  river  ;  run  down. 

Bic. — Few  salmon  taken  each  season. 

^BimousM. — Run  down  ;  in  a  rainy  season  eighty  fish  have  been 
taken  from  15  to  40  lbs. 

'^Grand  Metis. — Good  river  ;  fish  from  12  to  45  lbs. 

*Matane.—L^Tge  fish.     Badly  poached.     Fish  12  to  30  lbs. 

Cape  (7Aa^.— Shallow;  few  salmon  taken  each  season  ;  run  down. 

*^St.  J.7i7i^«.— Abundance  of  salmon  taken  each  year  ;  average, 
25  lbs. 

Mont  Lewis. — Few  salmon,  many  trout. 

* Magdeleine. —QooH  fishing  for  five  miles  to  falls  ;  salmon  large  ; 
average,  22  lbs. 

Rivers  floiuing  into  north  shore  of  Bay  CJtaleur, 

*  Dartmouth. — Good  fishing  for  tAvo  rods  ;  15  to  20  lbs. 
***rbr^-.— Good  river  ;  salmon  from  15  to  45  lbs. 

**8t.  John. — Fine  river  ;  plenty  salmon  and  trout ;  fish  large. 


List  of  the  Salmon-rivers  of  Canada.  23 

Mai  Bay. — Run  down  ;  restocked  last  July  ;  lots  of  trout. 

*  Grand  River. — Good ;  about  .00  salmon  taken  each  year  from  10 
to  20  lbs. 

*  Little  Pahos. — Not  very  good  ;  fair  for  trout. 

*  Grand  Pabos. — Improving  ;  lots  of  trout,  and  salmon  from  10  to 
18  lbs. 

Port  Daniel. — Not  much  fished  ;  being  restocked. 
^Great  Bonamnture. — Good  salmon  stream.     Very  clear  water. 
Fish  run  from  12  to  28  lbs. 

*  Little  Cascapedia. — Small  river,  run  down  ;  few  salmon  from  12 
to  20  lbs.  taken  each  year.     Lots  of  trout. 

*** Grand  Cascapedia. — Noble  river  ;  abundance  of  salmon  up  to 
56  lbs. 

**Bestigouc7ie.— Very  fine  salmon-river  ;  fish  from  15  to  35  or  40 
lbs. 

*Upsalgmtc7i. — Tributary  of  Restigouche  ;  salmon  10  to  18  lbs.; 
grilse  from  3  to  5  lbs. 

*Patapedia. — Tributary  of  Restigouche ;  reserved  for  the  breeding 
of  salmon  by  the  Restigouche  Salmon  Club. 

*Kedgewick. — Tributary  of  Restigouche  ;  same  as  last. 

*Metapedia. — Discharges  into  Restigouche,  near  its  mouth  ;  large 
salmon  ;  good  fly-fishing. 

*Coscapscal. — Tributary  of  Metapedia.     Same  as  above. 

Rivers  discharging  into  south  shore  of  Bay  Chaleur,  below 
CamjjbelUon. 

Eel  River. — A  few  salmon  ;  good  trout. 

Chariot. — Yields  yearly  a  few  salmon  ;  good  trouting. 

*Jacquet. —  Substantially  the  same  ;  better  salmon-river  than 
Chariot. 

*Nipissiguit. — Fine  salmon-fishing ;  abundance  of  fish  at  falls. 
Not  very  large,  10  to  15  lbs. 

*MiramicM. — Very  much  nm  down  ;  formerly  good. 

Branches  of  N.  W.  Branch  of  Miramichi: 

Little  Southwest. 

Little  Sevogle. 

*Big  Sevogle. — Plenty  of  smafl  salmon. 


24  The  American  Salmon-fishermam,, 

All  these  streams  are  run  down ;  recently  restocked  by  the  Do- 
minion Government. 
Branches  of  S.  W.  Branch  of  Miramichi: 
Bartholomew. 
Caius. 
Dungarvan. 
Taxis. 

BocTc  Brook. 
Clearwater. 
Burnt  Hill. 
All  run  down  ;  recently  restocked  by  Dominion  Government. 

Upper  Salmon  and  Big  Salmon,  Bay  of  Fundy. — Salmon  in  mod- 
erate quantity  are  taken  in  these  rivers. 

Tohique  and  NashwanJc,  tributaries  of  St.  John. — Until  the  summer 
of  1884  it  was  believed  that  the  salmon  of  the  Tobique  would  not 
rise  to  the  fly.  Eighteen  were  then  so  taken  by  one  angler.  This 
is  my  most  recent  information  in  reference  to  this  river.  Of  the 
Nashwank  I  have  learned  nothing. 

Anticosti  Island. 

*  Jupiter. 

*Salmon. 

The  salmon-rivers  of  Nova  Scotia  offer  little  encouragement  to 
strangers,  since  the  run  is  over  by  the  first  of  June,  or  even  earlier. 
The  Margaree  Biver,  in  Cape  Breton,  is,  however,  an  exception  :  it 
furnishes  very  fair  salmon-fishing  throughout  the  summer,  except  in 
times  of  low  water  and  drought 


The  Outfit — Hods,  25 


CHAPTER  11. 

THE  OUTFIT— RODS. 

Let  us  suppose  that  the  advertisement  and  correspond- 
ence have  done  their  work,  and  that  a  good  fishing  has 
been  secured. 

The  next  thing  in  order  is  to  procure  the  outfit  neces- 
sary to  render  the  fishing-privilege  available.  The  rod, 
being  the  most  important  element,  claims  first  attention. 

To  the  selection  of  this  implement  the  angler  cannot 
give  too  much  care  and  attention.  A  poor  rod  is  like  a 
tight  boot.  The  unhappy  possessor  is  never  at  ease  until 
he  has  thrown  it  into  the  ash-heap,  or  passed  it  over  to 
some  other  unfortunate. 

If  a  rod  for  trout-fishing  was  in  view,  no  American 
angler  of  the  slightest  experience  would  dream  of  buying 
any  but  an  American  rod,  or  of  being  influenced  in  its 
selection  by  any  foreign  work  on  angling.  But  so  little, 
comparatively,  has  been  done  and  said  on  salmon-fishing 
in  this  country,  and  so  much  in  Great  Britain,  that  the 
American  angler  is  apt  to  turn  to  and  be  guided  by 
English  authorities.  He  will  read  of  rods  eighteen,  nine- 
teen, and  twenty  feet  long.  Well  may  he  groan  when 
he  thinks  of  brandishing  such  a  weaver's  beam  all  the 
livelong  day,  and  question  whether  he  would  not  find 
sawing  wood  equally  beneficial  and  far  less  laborious. 

In  the  matter  of  fishing-rods,  I  cannot  but  think  the 


26  The  American  Salmon-fisherman, 

mechanical  common-sense  of  our  English  brethren  is 
somewhat  obscured  by  respect  for  tradition. 

It  is  true  that  a  longer  rod  will  effectively  handle  a 
somewhat  longer  line  than  a  shorter  rod.  The  limit 
claimed  for  this  advantage  by  its  most  hearty  advocate 
is  five  feet  of  additional  line  for  each  additional  foot  of 
rod.  I  believe  this  to  be  excessive,  but  let  it  stand. 
Then  with  an  eighteen-foot  rod  fifteen  feet  more  line  can 
be  handled  than  with  a  fifteen-foot  rod.  When  this  has 
been  conceded  to  the  longer  rod,  all  that  can  be  said  in 
its  favor  has  been  said.  But  is  this  advantage  a  prac- 
tical advantage,  and  of  practical  value  ?  I  think  not. 
Even  the  English  authorities  are  substantially  unanimous 
in  that  a  cast  of  seventy-five  or  eighty  feet  is  a  command 
of  distance  ample  for  all  practical  purposes.  But  this 
distance  has  been  more  than  covered  with  a  single-handed 
rod  ten  and  a  half  feet  long.  It  must  then  be  within 
command  of  a  double-handed  rod  fifteen  feet  long. 

Five  and  a  half  times  the  length  of  a  rod  is  believed 
by  many  to  measure  the  effective  distance  which  can  be 
covered  w^ith  that  rod  in  actual  fishing.  Though  this 
rule  is  certainly  not  very  far  out,  still  it  must  be  applied 
with  a  thorough  understanding  of  the  princi^^les  upon 
which  it  is  based,  or  it  will  mislead.  In  casting  the  fly 
the  rod  is  the  fixed  and  the  line  the  variable  element. 
It  is  obvious  that  the  line  cannot  be  moved  or  managed 
except  by  the  rod.  From  the  rod  is  derived  every  im- 
pulse wliich  makes  the  line  efficient  in  fly-fishing.  When 
the  line  is  short  and  at  a  right  angle  with  the  rod,  it  is 
clear  that  a  given  motion  of  the  rod  will  impart  the 
maximum  motion  to  the  line.  The  line  is  then  under  the 
most  perfect  possible  control. 


The  Outfit— Bods, 


27 


It  may  be  demonstrated  that  as  the  line  lengthens,  and 
that  as  the  rod  departs  from  a  right  angle  with  the  line 
— either,  or  both — a  given  movement  of  the  rod  will  pro- 
duce a  diminishing  effect  upon  the  line.  If  the  rod  and 
line  were  two  bodies  inflexible  except  at  the  hinge-joint 
that  united  them,  this  would  be  all  we  should  have  to  con- 
sider. We  would  then  draw  a  circle,  using  the  grasp  of 
the  rod  as  a  centre,  and  its  length  above  the  grasp  as  the 
radius.  This  circle  would  then  correctly  represent  the 
path  described  by  the  tip  of  the  rod  in  the  act  of  striking 
a  fish,  or  in  retrieving  the  line  for  the  "  back-cast."  We 
now  produce  a  horizontal  line  to  represent  the  water. 
The  distance  from  a  point  on  this  circle  to  the  water  will 
represent  a  given  length  of  fishing-line.  If  we  now  set 
a  pair  of  compasses  to  this  distance,  and,  applying  one 
extremity  to  any  other  point  of  the  circle,  see  where  the 
other  leg  reaches  the  water-line,  we  can  determine  how 
much  the  movement  of  the  rod  through  the  given  inter- 
val has  withdrawn  the  line.  It  will  be  found  to  dimin- 
ish as  the  length  of  line  is  increased. 

The  following  diagram  demonstrates  this: 


A  B  represents  a  portion  of  a  circle  described  by  the 
tip  of  a  rod  in  casting;   C  D^  the  water-line;  E  i*^  and 


28  The  American  Salmon-Jishermdn. 

G  H,  equal  lengths  of  line.  The  movement  of  the  tip 
from  E  to  G  has  retracted  the  line  from  F  to  H.  1£  I 
and  G  e/'also  represent  equal  lengths  of  line.  The  same 
movement  of  the  tip  from  E  to  G  has  retracted  the  line, 
but  from  I  to  J,  obviously  less  than  the  distance  from 
i^to^ 

But  this  is,  so  to  speak,  but  the  preface  of  the  story. 
It  is  the  motion  of  the  extreme  tip  of  the  rod,  not  of  any 
other  part,  which  determines  the  retraction  of  the  line. 
Now  if  the  outer  end  of  the  line  is  fastened,  no  matter 
how  much  motion  is  given  to  the  rest  of  the  rod,  the  end 
of  the  tip  remains  stationary  and  the  line  is  not  re- 
tracted. What  angler  has  not  demonstrated  this  to  his 
utter  disgust  when  he  has  hung  his  flies  on  the  back-cast 
in  some  tree,  the  existence  and  location  of  which  he  has 
failed  duly  to  consider  ?  If  the  line,  instead  of  being 
fast  at  its  outer  extremity,  were  submerged  for  a  part 
of  its  length  in  tar,  the  same  result  would  follow;  nor 
would  there  be  any  difference,  except  in  degree,  if  water 
was  substituted  for  the  tar. 

It  follows,  then,  that  there  must  be  some  length  of  line 
upon  which  the  friction  of  the  water,  coupled  with  the 
inertia  of  the  line  itself,  will  be  so  great  as  to  overpower 
the  stiffness  of  the  rod.  The  tip  then  remains  stationary 
though  the  rod  itself  may  be  doubled  up  by  the  energy 
of  the  angler;  and  though  its  elasticity  may  at  length 
start  the  line  into  motion,  it  will  do  so  but  tardily,  and 
too  late  to  answer  any  useful  purpose. 

It  thus  appears  that  the  ability  to  strike  a  rising  fish 
fails  first,  since  that  motion  must  be  prompt  upon  the 
rise  to  be  of  avail.  Subsequently,  and  with  an  increased 
length  of  line,  the  power  to  retrieve  the  line  for  the 


The  Outfit — Hods.  29 

back-cast  is  also  lost,  since  all  the  energy  of  the  rod  is 
expended  in  slowly  drawing  the  line  over  and  through 
the  water,  leaving  no  surplus  force  to  raise  the  line  and 
send  it  on  its  flight  through  the  air  behind  the  angler 
preparatory  to  a  fresh  cast. 

These  considerations  form  the  basis  upon  which  rests 
the  rule  that  five  times,  or  five  and  a  half  times,  the 
length  of  the  rod  is  the  limit  of  practical  fly-fishing. 
At  this  distance  the  power  to  strike  a  rising  fish  is  prac- 
tically lost. 

But  it  is  clear  that  any  cause  which  lessens  the  friction 
of  the  line  upon  or  in  the  water  diminishes  the  resist- 
ance which  the  rod  must  overcome,  and  consequently 
increases  the  useful  range  of  the  cast.  Such  an  agency  is 
running  water,  since  the  current  buoys  up  the  line  so  that 
it  sinks  less.  The  rule,  then,  though  sufticiently  accurate 
for  still  water,  will  more  or  less  understate  the  ability  of 
a  rod  where  a  more  or  less  sharp  current  lends  it  aid. 

Now,  a  fifteen-foot  rod,  according  to  the  rule,  should 
handle  a  line  of  at  least  five  times  its  length  in  still  water, 
or  seventy-five  feet.  But  the  fly  is  cast,  for  salmon, 
almost,  if  not  quite,  invariably  upon  a  current,  and  a 
pretty  sharp  current  too.  Again,  the  loss  of  the  ability 
to  strike  is  of  no  moment.  As  we  shall  endeavor  to  show 
hereafter,  it  is  the  very  first  thing  that  an  old  trout-fish- 
erman wants  to  lose — or  at  any  rate  to  ignore.  I  there- 
fore believe  that  a  good  fifteen-foot  rod  in  skilled  hands 
will  fish  .efiiciently  at  a  point  eighty  to  ninety  feet  distant 
from  the  angler,  and  that  such  a  rod  is  amply  long  for 
substantially  every  exigency  of  fly-fishing  for  salmon  on 
this  side  of  the  Atlantic. 

But  if  a  fifteen -foot  rod  is  practically  as  efficient  as  one 


80  The  American  Salmon  fishermcm. 

of  eighteen  or  twenty  feet,  it  is  incomparably  superior  in 
the  comfort  its  use  will  afford,  as  well  as  in  its  control 
over  a  heavy  fish.  It  is  not  the  actual  weight  of  a  rod 
in  avoirdupois  ounces  which  fatigues  the  angler,  but  the 
leverage  against  him.  To  lift  a  given  length  of  line,  or 
to  impose  a  given  strain  upon  a  fish,  with  an  eighteen- 
foot  rod,  must  necessarily  require  a  far  greater  effort  on 
the  part  of  the  angler  than  if  the  rod  measured  but  fifteen 
feet.  All  agree  that  to  cast  all  day  with  a  salmon-rod  is 
really  hard  work  even  for  the  able-bodied.  But  in  view 
of  the  preceding  considerations,  it  may  well  be  ques- 
tioned whether  one  half  of  this  is  not  often  absolutely 
waste  labor. 

I  therefore  recommend  the  purchase  of  an  American 
rod,  or  at  least  one  made  upon  the  principles  accepted 
and  acted  on  by  American  rod-makers;  and,  unless  the 
purchaser  be  one  "  the  muscles  on  whose  brawny  arms 
are  firm  as  iron  bands,"  I  would  recommend  fifteen  feet, 
or  that  and  a  few  inches,  as  a  quite  sufficient  length. 
Not  to  Goliath  of  Gath,  would  I  recommend  a  rod  much 
exceeding  sixteen  feet. 

Indeed,  where  the  fishing  is  open  and  fortune  smiles, 
after  the  wire-edge  of  the  appetite  has  been  taken  off  by 
the  capture  of  a  reasonable  number  of  salmon  with  the 
double-handed  rod,  so  that  the  loss  of  a  fish  is  not  too 
harrowing,  I  question  whether  strict  angling  morality 
does  not  thereafter  require  us  to  resort  to  a  single-handed 
rod  of  ten  feet  six  inches  to  eleven  feet  in  length,  and 
of  from  nine  to  ten  ounces  in  weight, — particularly  if  the 
fishing  is  so  remote  from  communication  that  the  fish 
cannot  be  sent  out,  and  the  supply  exceeds  the  camp 
needs.     For  a  fly-fisherman  to  condemn  fish  legitimately 


The  Outfit — Bods,  81 

taken  with  the  fly,  whether  tront  or  salmon,  to  the  salt- 
ing-barrel, has  always  seemed  to  me  a  breach  of  angling 
propriety  but  little  better  than  throwing  them  aside  to 
rot.  It  is  a  mere  matter  of  sentiment,  I  admit;  but  those 
are  my  sentiments.  To  take  salmon  with  a  single-handed 
rod  is  certainly  more  sportsmanlike,  since  it  requires 
greater  skill  and  the  fish  has  more  chance.  It  is  also 
more  economical,  since  the  contest  will  be  more  pro- 
tracted, and  that  alternation  of  hope  and  fear  which 
constitutes  the  great  charm  of  salmon-fishing  continues 
for  a  longer  time  with  each  fish.  Thus  fewer  fish  furnish 
more  fun,  which  after  all  is  the  main  thing.  With  a 
canoe  as  a  movable  base  from  which  to  conduct  opera- 
tions, and  a  proper  reel  and  line,  the  angler  is  sufficiently 
sure  of  ultimate  victory  to  warrant  the  effort;  and,  stim- 
ulated by  an  approving  conscience  and  perhaps  just  a 
little  dash  of  self-conceit,  the  silver  sheen  and  graceful 
outline  of  a  salmon  so  taken  will  far  surpass  in  its  cap- 
tor's eyes — yes,  and  in  the  eyes  of  others — the  best  that 
any  competing  double-handed  rod  may  produce. 

Having  decided  on  the  length  of  the  rod,  choose  one 
having  as  nearly  as  possible  the  action  of  the  favorite 
trout-rod.  Many  err  in  selecting  a  rod  because  they  do 
not  handle  it  in  the  shop  under  the  conditions  to  which 
they  are  accustomed  in  the  field.  The  counterpoising 
effect  of  the  reel  should  never  be  guessed  at  or  ignored. 
It  is  the  balance — or  in  other  words  the  leverage — of  a 
rod,  rather  than  its  actual  weight  on  the  scales,  which 
really  determines  whether  a  rod  of  a  given  length  is 
heavy  or  light.  When  poised  to  test  its  balance,  a  prop- 
erly proportioned  rod  without  the  reel  will  always  feel 


83  The  American  Salmon-fisherman. 

top-heavy  when  compared  to  a  like  rod  used  as  in  actual 
fishing  with  reel  in  place.  The  longer  the  rod  the  more 
marked  the  difference  becomes.  If  this  is  overlooked  in 
the  selection  of  a  salmon-rod,  the  purchaser  will  naturally 
choose  one  without  the  apparent  defect,  and  get  in  con- 
sequence one  abnormally  light  in  the  tip.  This  is  one  of 
the  very  worst  faults  a  salmon-rod  can  have.  A  heavy 
line  is  so  advantageous  in  salmon-fishing  as  to  be  almost 
indispensable.  The  rod  must  have  the  power  to  lift  and 
handle  such  a  line  with  certainty  and  precision.  Doubt- 
less some  men  can,  ^dth  patient  practice,  do  pretty  fair 
work  with  a  rifle  the  sights  of  which  are  quite  out  of 
alignment,  but  that  is  no  argument  for  the  selection  of 
such  a  rifle.  A  pertinacious  struggle  may  at  last  in  some 
measure  overcome  the  difficulty,  but  that  is  no  reason  why 
the  difiiculty  should  be  voluntarily  created 

A  rod  of  which  the  tip  is  not  absolutely  under  the 
command  of  the  lower  part  is  exactly  like  a  rifle  the 
sights  of  which  are  out  of  adjustment.  It  is  the  extreme 
end  of  the  tip  which  directs  the  fly  to  its  mark.  The 
complications  caused  by  wind  and  neighboring  obstacles 
will  sufficiently  exerciae  the  skill  of  the  angler,  without 
handicapping  himself  v/ith  what  might  well  be  likened  to 
a  gun  with  a  crooked  barrel. 

The  next  step  is  to  see  that  the  curve  described  by  the 
rod  when  bent  is  a  true  curve.  Its  presence  indicates 
that  each  fibre  of  the  rod  is  bearing  its  proper  share  of  the 
load.  But  if  the  rod  shows  a  broken  curve — stiff,  alternat 
ing  with  softer  places — the  strain  is  unfairly  distributed. 
In  the  first  case  the  rod  has  all  its  resources  at  command 
for  the  day  of  the  trial  of  its  strength,  like  a  good  army 
ably  handled;  in  the  other  it  is  like  an  army  the  compo- 


The  Outfit -Rods,  33 

nent  parts  of  which  are  scattered  beyond  supporting  dis- 
tance of  one  another — sure  to  be  beaten  in  detail  if  seri- 
ously attacked.  A  true  curve  in  a  rod  is  like  personal 
integrity  in  a  man — with  it  he  can  be  relied  on;  without 
it  he  cannot. 

The  best  method  of  testing  this  is  by  fastening  a  string 
from  the  end  of  the  tip  to  any  convenient  projection. 
One  person  then  puts  a  strain  on  the  rod,  while  the  pur- 
chaser studies  the  curve.  The  strain  should  be  tolerably 
severe  and  the  curve  quite  pronounced.  The  curve  may 
be  parabolic  in  character,  that  is,  with  the  bend  mainly 
on  the  upper  part  of  the  rod;  or  it  may  be  a  true  arc 
of  a  circle,  or  any  curve  between  these  two  extremes, 
according  to  the  style  of  action  the  rod  may  have — it  is 
immaterial  which.  But  the  curve  should  be  an  even  one. 
One  single  place  in  the  whole  length  of  the  rod  which  is 
either  unduly  straight  or  unduly  bent  should  condemn 
the  rod.  Perhaps  a  suspicion  of  liberality  may  be  shown 
to  the  neighborhood  of  the  ferrules,  but  only  a  suspicion. 

This  brings  us  to  the  question  of  how  the  rod  should 
be  joined  together,  for  clearly  a  salmon-rod  all  in  one 
piece  is  out  of  the  question. 

In  the  Provinces  the  American  angler  will  find  spliced 
rods  decidedly  predominant.  The  sight  of  a  ferruled  rod 
operates  with  the  certainty  of  hot  water  and  mustard  on 
one  who  is  accustomed  to  a  spliced  rod,  and  he  can  no 
more  refrain  from  doing  a  little  missionary  work  on  be- 
half of  his  favorite  method  than  he  can  refrain  from 
breathing.  The  more  ingenuous  will  admit,  though  with 
reluctance,  that  it  is  rather  a  nuisance  to  join  such  a  rod 
properly;  also,  that  the  ends  of  the  splices  are  delicate 
3 


34  The  American  Salmon-fisherman. 

and  must  be  protected  with  assiduous  care  when  the  rod 
is  apart.  Xay  more,  if  really  crowded  into  a  corner,  an 
admission  may  be  extorted  that  it  is  rare  to  find  a  spliced 
rod  of  two  or  more  seasons'  use,  the  thin  ends  of  the  splices 
of  which  are  not  split  or  broken. 

But  nothing  is  absolutely  perfect  in  this  world.  Is  not 
a  rod  all  in  one  single  piece  the  ideal  rod  ?  And  what  is 
a  spliced  rod  when  joined  together  but  a  single-piece  rod? 
"  Pretty  must  hurt."  We  do  submit  to  some  inconven- 
iences, but  we  obtain  thereby  the  true  ideal — a  degree  of 
perfection  unattainable  in  any  f erruled  rod! 

This  sounds  rather  plausible.  But  before  we  are  talked 
into  any  really  revolutionary  action  let  us  consider  the 
matter  a  little. 

When  a  fishing-rod  is  straight,  if  w^e  limit  our  attention 
to  any  short  portion  of  its  length,  its  sides  may  be  con- 
sidered as  parallel  and  of  equal  length.  Now  let  us  bend 
the  rod,  and,  confining  our  attention  to  the  same  part, 
see  what  takes  place.  The  upper  and  lower  sides  of  the 
rod  are  no  longer  straight,  but  each  has  assumed  the  form 
of  an  arc  of  a  circle,  one  arc  lying  w^ithin  the  other,  and 
both  having  a  common  centre.  That  arc  most  distant 
from  the  centre  must  therefore  be  the  longer,  and  the  arc 
nearer  the  centre  must  be  the  shorter.  And  such  is  the 
fact.  In  bending  the  rod  we  have  stretched  the  fibres  of 
the  upper  and  compressed  those  of  the  under  portion  of 
the  rod.  It  is  the  reluctance  of  these  fibres  to  submit  to 
this  distention  and  compression  w^hich  is  the  stiffness  of  a 
rod,  and  it  is  their  promptness  to  return  to  their  original 
condition  which  constitutes  its  elasticity. 

We  have  now  clearly  in  mind  that  in  bending  a  rod  we 
stretch  the  upper  and  condense  the  lower  side,  and  that 


The  Outfit— Rods. 


85 


stiffness  and  elasticity  are  but  other  terras  to  express  the 
resistance  offered  by  the  material  of  the  rod  to  this  en- 
forced change. 

Now  suppose  we  take  two  pieces  of  wood  each  of  one 
square  inch  in  cross-section,  and,  laying  one  upon  the 
other,  lash  them  together  as  firmly  as  we  can  in  the  posi- 
tion shown  at  A  in  the  cut. 

This  I  will  hereafter  call  the  "  compound  stick." 


Fig.  2. 

Let  us  also  prepare  a  single  piece  of  wood  B  like  the 
other  in  every  respect,  except  that  its  cross-section  meas- 
ures one  inch  by  two.  It  is  therefore  of  exactly  the  same 
dimensions  as  the  compound  stick  we  have  made  by  lash- 
ing the  two  inch-square  pieces  together. 

Now  let  us  place  the  ends  of  the  single  and  of  the  com- 
pound stick  upon  equidistant  supports  so  that  both  rest 
on  edge,  and  impose  an  equal  load  on  the  middle  of  each. 
Each  stick  a\u11  then  oppose  to  its  load  a  section  of 
material  one  inch  wide  and  two  inches  in  perpendicular 
depth,— in  short,  an  exactly  equal  length  and  quantity  of 
material,  disposed  in  exactly  the  same  position,  to  meet 
an  exactly  equal  strain. 


36  The  American  Salmon-Jisherman. 

But  which  will  be  the  stiff er  ?  There  is  not  a  laborer 
who  ever  carried  a  hod  up  a  gang-plank  who  does  not 
know  that  the  single  stick  is  far  stiffer  than  the  com- 
pound. 

And  it  stands  to  reason.  The  fibres  of  the  single  stick 
must  undergo  a  change  throughout  the  entire  depth  of  its 
two  inches.  It  therefore  follows  that  to  bend  a  distance 
equal  to  that  of  the  compound  stick  the  outer  fibres  are 
subjected  to  a  greater  extension  and  compression,  and 
that  more  force  must  be  required  to  produce  this  greater 
result. 

But  with  the  compound  stick  the  case  is  quite  different. 
The  frictional  contact  of  its  two  component  parts  one 
upon  the  other  ultimately  becomes  less  than  the  power  of 
the  fibres  of  each  to  resist  change.  The  stress  is  there- 
fore in  part  relieved  by  one  stick  sliding  on  the  other  in 
the  line  of  least  resistance — that  is,  on  the  line  of  contact. 
Each  part  is  in  a  measure  beaten  in  detail.  Here,  as  else- 
where, "In  union  lies  strength." 

But  which  is  the  more  elastic  ? — or,  what  is  the  same 
thing,  which  will  recover  most  promptly  and  completely 
on  the  removal  of  the  deflecting  load  ?  Clearly  the  single 
piece.  The  two  parts  of  the  compound  piece  slide  one 
on  the  other  during  the  deflection  caused  by  the  weight. 
But  when  the  weight  is  removed,  where  is  the  power  to 
cause  them  to  slide  back  to  their  original  position  ?  The 
elasticity  of  the  parts  may  initiate  the  motion,  but  as  the 
fibres  approach  their  normal  state  this  force  uniformly 
decreases  in  strength,  till  ultimately  the  friction  will  pre- 
dominate. Recovery  then  ceases,  and  the  compound  stick 
remains  bent  until  this  friction  is  removed  by  separating 
its  parts. 


The  Oiiffit — Rods.  87 

This,  it  seems  to  me,  is  the  philosophy  of  the  splice. 
If  so,  then  it  is  a  delusion.  The  rod  must  be  stiffer,  and 
must  be  more  elastic  at  the  solid,  than  at  the  spliced  parts. 

I  have  seen  many  spliced  rods  in  use.  The  foregoing 
is,  in  great  part,  not  the  result  of  abstract  reasoning  upon 
an  abstract  proposition,  but  rather  of  an  effort  to  assign 
a  cause  for  results  which  obtruded  themselves  upon  my 
notice. 

Unless  some  adhesive — like  glue,  for  example — is  inter- 
posed between  the  spliced  surfaces,  I  believe  a  spliced 
rod  is  just  as  defective  as  a  rod  joined  with  very  long 
ferrules.  The  defect,  it  is  true,  is  in  the  opposite  direc- 
tion, but  I  am  by  no  means  sure  it  is  not  practically  far 
more  objectionable. 

I  have  seen  many  a  spliced  rod,  which,  when  it  was 
joined,  was  perfectly  straight.  But  I  cannot  recall  one 
which  did  not  show  the  "  softness"  of  the  splice  when 
bent,  nor  have  I  ever  seen  one  which  after  a  heavy  and 
protracted  strain,  such  as  that  of  fighting  a  salmon,  did 
not  show  a  droop  at  each  splice  until  straightened  by  ex- 
trinsic aid.  On  the  other  hand,  I  have  seen  many  and 
many  a  ferruled  rod  in  the  bend  of  which  the  eye  failed 
to  detect  the  slightest  departure  from  a  true  curve,  and 
which  recovered  promptly  and  completely  from  every 
strain.  I  will  go  still  further:  I  believe  and  maintain 
that,  given  two  rods, — the  one  the  ideal  rod  of  a  single 
piece,  and  the  second  properly  ferruled,  both  otherwise 
precisely  alike, — the  most  skilled,  if  blindfolded,  cannot 
distinguish  the  action  of  one  from  the  other. 

I  therefore  recommend  the  American  angler  to  set  his 
face  as  a  flint  against  the  propaganda  of  the  splice. 


38  The  American  Salmon-fisherman. 

In  my  book  "  Fly-Rods  and  Fly-Tackle"  the  philosophy 
of  the  ferrule  was  discussed  at  length.  I  can  only  add, 
that  further  thought,  experiment,  and  experience  suggest 
no  change  or  error  therein.  For  years  the  manufacture 
of  fly-rods  and  fly-tackle  has  been  my  chief  recreation.  I 
believe  I  may  conscientiously  say  that  every  effort,  except 
perhaps  at  the  very  outset,  has  been  directed,  not  so 
much  to  produce  a  rod  or  other  implement,  as  to  subject 
some  theory  to  the  crucial  test  of  actual  experiment. 

A  short  ferrule  with  a  cylindrical  bore  made  from 
tubing  drawn  inside  and  out — that  is,  drawn  through  an 
annular  die  upon  a  polished  mandrel — for  the  outside  fer- 
rule, and  an  inside  ferrule  without  dowels  and  fitting  its 
mate  throughout  the  length  of  the  insertion,  and  inserted 
when  the  rod  is  put  together  until  the  neighboring  ends 
of  the  joints  are  almost  if  not  quite  in  contact,  were  there 
advocated  as  the  best  method  of  uniting  the  several  joints 
of  a  trout-rod. 

I  now  assert  what  I  could  not  then,  since  I  had  not 
actually  tried  it,  that  it  is  both  the  simplest  and  the  best 
known  method  of  jointing  a  salmon-rod. 

When,  during  the  winter  of  1884-85,  I  announced  to 
some  of  my  angling  friends,  particularly  those  in  the 
trade,  that  I  proposed  to  make  a  salmon-rod  and  unite  its 
several  joints  with  ferrules  of  this  description,  it  was  the 
old  story  over  again.  It  might  answer  in  a  trout-rod, 
but  under  the  severer  strain  of  a  salmon-rod  such  ferrules 
would  surely  split  or  bend  or  throw  apart,  and  the  first 
salmon  struck  would  reduce  my  rod  to  a  wreck  and 
plunge  me  in  that  slough  of  despond  into  which  the 
angler  always  sinks  when  he  encounters  such  a  disaster. 

My  old  argument,  that  I  had  used  this  form  of  ferrule 


The  Outfit — Rods.  89 

for  more  than  ten  successive  years  in  the  heavy  trout- 
fishing  of  Maine  without  the  slightest  accident,  and  that 
therefore  any  failure  which  might  be  cited  against  it 
must  necessarily  be  due  to  faulty  workmanship  rather 
than  error  in  principle  of  construction,  was  no  longer 
available.  As  far  as  I  knew,  a  salmon-rod  had  never 
been  so  joined.  Thus  I  could  but  answer  theory  with 
theory,  and  with  the  usual  result: 

"  A  man  convinced  against  his  will 
Is  of  the  same  opinion  still." 

The  salmon-rod  in  question  was  fifteen  and  one  half 
feet  long,  and  in  three  joints  of  equal  length.  The  long- 
est ferrule — that  uniting  the  butt  and  middle  joint — was 
three  and  one  half  inches  long,  and  all  the  ferrules  were 
fitted  in  accordance  with  the  principles  before  set  forth. 
No  device  whatever  was  used  to  prevent  the  joints  throw- 
ing apart,  except  the  natural  cohesion  due  to  the  fitting 
of  Mie  ferrules  one  within  the  other.  The  ferrules  were  at 
all  times  kept  well  greased  to  facilitate  ultimate  separa- 
tion and  to  exclude  water,  as  is  my  practice;  while  the 
metal  of  which  they  were  composed  was  in  itself  an  ex- 
periment, as  far  as  this  use  of  it  was  concerned,  and  was 
found  so  inferior  to  German  silver  or  even  good  brass  in 
stiffness,  that  it  was  not  without  hesitation  and  doubt  that 
I  used  it  at  all. 

With  this  rod  so  united  I  took  twenty-five  salmon. 
The  largest  weighed  thirty-two  pounds,  and  was  gaffed 
only  after  a  struggle  lasting  one  hour  and  fifty  minutes. 
One  fish  of  twenty-six  pounds,  taken  after  a  fight  of 
one  hour  and  fifteen  minutes,  was  hooked  in  the  side 
about  three  inches  back  of  the  gill.     One  fish,  which  I 


40  The  American  Salmon-fisherman. 

thought  would  weigh  nearly  if  not  quite  forty  pounds, 
was  lost  after  one  hour  and  thirty  minutes'  play.  I 
brought  it  in  to  the  bank,  but  at  the  approach  of  the 
gaffer  it  rallied,  and  made  a  sharp  run  of  some  sixty  or 
seventy  yards.  I  followed  it  down  stream,  and  had  grad- 
ually worked  it  in  again  until  it  was  about  thirty  or 
forty  feet  distant.  It  was  then  a  very  sick  iish,  fre- 
quently rolling  upon  its  side,  as  it  came  in  with  little  or 
no  resistance  except  that  produced  by  the  friction  of  the 
water.  Then  the  last  shred  of  skin  which  held  the  hook 
gave  way,  and  it  escaped.  These  are  the  times  that  try 
men's  souls — as  well  as  their  morals. 

I  lost  another  fish  which  I  thought  still  larger.  We 
had  had  it  hot  and  heavy  for  thirty  minutes,  and  I  had 
worked  him  in  quite  near  the  bank,  when  down  came  an 
island  of  floating  logs.  At  this  inopportune  moment  the 
salmon  started  for  the  opposite  shore  at  race-horse  speed, 
passing  just  below  the  floating  logs  in  his  course.  I 
thrust  my  rod  under  water  nearly  half  its  length  in  the 
hope  that  the  obstruction  might  thus  pass  over  the  line. 
But  when  one  hundred  and  ten  yards  were  out  something 
fouled  it,  and  a  leader  tested  to  eight  pounds  parted,  and 
the  fish  escaped. 

Of  the  whole  lot  of  twenty-five  fish  actually  reduced  to 
possession,  the  majority  were  of  twenty  pounds  or  over, 
besides  others  not  mentioned  above,  which  were  lost  after 
a  contest  of  greater  or  less  duration.  These  fish  were  all 
"  fresh-run,"  and  were  taken  about  four  miles  above  tide- 
water. When  I  have  used  the  term  "  fish,"  salmon  are  to 
be  understood  in  every  instance.  Indeed,  nothing  else 
is  considered  worthy  of  that  name  in  a  salmon-stream. 

This,  it  seems  to  me,  is  a  pretty  fair  test  of  the  simple 


The  Outfit — Bods.  41 

ferrule.  If  its  principle  of  construction  is  wrong — if  such 
a  ferrule  will  split  or  bend  or  throw  apart,  as  claimed  by 
its  opponents,  these  defects,  or  some  of  them,  should  cer- 
tainly have  made  themselves  manifest. 

Such  was  not  the  case.  They  were  as  perfect  in  every 
respect  when  I  packed  my  rod  to  return  home  as  when  I 
took  them  from  the  lathe  and  first  put  them  on  the  rod; 
and  though  no  device  whatever  of  any  description  was 
used  to  prevent  them  from  throwing  apart,  aside  from  the 
cohesion  due  to  their  fit,  not  one  of  them  ever  started. 
Indeed,  I  might  add  that  within  a  week  after  my  return^ 
and  without  alteration  or  repair,  I  loaned  this  rod  to  a 
friend  who  was  anxious  to  try  his  luck  with  salmon  at 
the  same  place,  and  who  also  used  it  during  his  fishing 
without  accident. 

"The  proof  of  the  pudding  is  in  the  eating." 

While  the  American  angler  will  find  the  salmon-rods  of 
England  and  the  Provinces  considerably  cheaper  than 
those  made  here,*  I,  notwithstanding,  strongly  recom- 
mend that  the  preference  be  given  to  a  domestic  rod. 
While  the  length  and  weight  of  English  rods  is  in  excess 
of  our  needs,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  many  of  their 
makers  well  know  what  the  action  ot  a  fly-rod  should  be, 
and  how  it  is  to  be  obtained.  Their  material,  too,  is  gen- 
erally excellent.  But  the  American  observer  cannot  but 
wonder  why  a  people  who  produce  mechanics  capable  of 
work  so  diflicult  and  so  exquisite  as  their  gun-locks,  for 

*  I  have  recently  seen  American  asb  and  lancewood  ferruled  sal- 
mon-rods retailing  for  fifteen  dollars,  whicb  seemed  fairly  to  com- 
pete even  in  this  respect.  They  were  really  excellent  rods — ^good 
enough  for  any  one. 


4'4  The  American  Salmon-fis?terman. 

example,  should  turn  out  such  wretched  ferrules  on  their 
rods.  Their  patent-list,  their  angling  books,  and  the 
advertising  columns  of  their  fishing  papers,  bristle  with 
devices  to  prevent  ferruled  fishing-rods  from  throwing 
apart.  N^ow,  with  our  fifty-five  millions  of  people,  and 
the  great  and  constantly  increasing  popularity  of  angling 
among  them,  it  may  safely  be  assumed  that  full  as  many 
ferruled  fishing-rods  are  in  use  here  as  in  Great  Britain, 
if  not  more.  How  is  it,  then,  that  on  that  side  of  the 
Atlantic  some  device  to  prevent  the  joints  of  a  ferruled 
rod  from  throwing  apart  is  thought  absolutely  necessary, 
while  on  this  side  such  a  device  is  thought  to  be  abso- 
lutely useless? 

This  tells  the  whole  story.  While  we  are  altogether 
indebted  to  England  for  the  art  of  fly-fishing,  and  while 
we  have  learned  and  have  still  much  to  learn  from 
there,  it  may  well  be  questioned  whether,  in  all  that 
relates  to  the  mechanics  of  the  art,  fish-hooks  excepted, 
we  are  not  in  a  position  to  repay  her  some  of  our  many 
obligations. 

When  a  salmon  takes  the  fly  and  starts  for  a  run,  his 
mind  is  fully  made  up.  He  is  an  obstinate  brute,  and 
run  he  will.  He  may  leave  the  fly  behind,  or  take  it,  or 
it  and  part  of  the  leader  with  him;  but  at  all  events  he  is 
bound  to  go.  If  the  performance  is  not  to  end  before 
the  curtain  has  fairly  risen,  it  is  essential  that  the  line 
suffer  no  check  beyond  the  steady  drag  imposed  by  the 
click  of  the  reel.  An  enamelled  water-proofed  salmon- 
line  is  an  expensive  thing,  and  the  less  it  is  worn  in  use  the 
longer  it  will  last.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  a  small  linen 
line  be  spliced  to  twenty-five  or  thirty  yards  of  the  more 


The  Outfit — Rods,  43 

expensive  kind  to  be  used  when  casting,  it  is  essential 
that  the  splice  shall  always  render  freely  when  the  line 
is  taken  by  the  fish  or  is  recovered  by  the  angler. 

Standing-guides  rather  than  rings,  and  a  "  three-ringed 
top"  rather  than  the  ordinary  single  ring-top,  would 
seem  more  fully  to  meet  these  conditions,  while  directing 
the  line  along  the  rod  and  from  the  end  of  the  tip  just  as 
well.  The  guides  may  be  tubular,  as  is  usual  on  striped 
bass-rods,  or  they  may  be  made  of  rather  small  and  stout 
rings  inclined  at  an  angle  toward  one  another  so  that 
they  may  meet  above,  while  separated  below  a  distance  a 
little  less  than  the  diameter  of  the  ring.  They  are  silver- 
soldered  together  where  they  meet  above,  and  are  brought 
in  contact  with,  and  in  like  manner  united  to,  a  keeper 
below.  These  weigh  but  little  more  than  the  ordinary 
ring  and  keeper,  the  weight  of  the  extra  ring  being  partly 
offset  by  their  smaller  size. 


Fig.  3.  ^''S-  2- 

He  who  desires  to  make  his  own  rod  will  find  full  di- 
rections for  that  purpose  in  "  Fly-Rods  and  Fly-Tackle." 
Since  the  method  of  planning  a  rod  there  given  is  a 
mathematical  method  applicable  to  rods  of  any  size,  but 
little  need  be  added  thereto.  But  three  points  need  be 
known :  the  diameter  at  the  extreme  outer  end  of  the  tip, 
the  diameter  at  the  thickest  place  of  the  butt  above  the 
handle,  and  the  distance  between  these  two  points.     All 


44  The  American  Salmon-fisherman, 

else  will  determine  itself.  The  smaller  end  of  tip  will  be 
\  inch.  The  diameter  of  thickest  part  of  butt-joint  above 
handle  for  lancewood  or  greenheart  will  be  W  inch  for  a 
rod  15  feet  over  all,  and  ||  inch  for  a  16-foot  rod,  meas- 
ured in  the  same  manner.  The  handle  should  be  22  inches 
long,  and  the  reel-seat  should  be  placed  %\  to  9  inches 
from  the  outer  end  of  the  butt-cap. 

With  good  material,  that  uniform  action  of  a  fly-rod 
which  makes  it  feel  in  the  angler's  hands  as  though  it 
were  a  living  thing,  is  most  readily  attained  by  making 
the  thickest  part  of  the  middle  joint  and  tip  but  little 
thinner  than  the  smallest  part  of  the  joint  immediately 
below  it.  The  shorter  the  ferrules  the  more  closely  the 
diameters  should  approach  one  another.  This  is  readily 
done  if  the  male  or  entering  ferrule  be  "  capped  " — that 
is,  enlarged  at  the  end  which  slips  over  the  wood  by  a 
short  metal  band  of  greater  diameter.  If  there  is  any 
reason  for  the  common  practice  of  capping  both  the  male 
ferrule  and  its  mate  as  well,  then  there  must  be  reason  in 
the  construction  of  those  rods  which  one  sometimes  sees, 
in  which  an  abrupt  and  marked  change  of  diameter  occurs 
at  every  joint.  If  such  reason  exists,  it  has  altogether 
eluded  my  investigation. 

We  will  conclude  this  chapter  with  this  advice,  which, 
to  him  who  has  not  made  it  a  practice,  is  worth  all  the 
trouble  that  reading  this  chapter  has  given:  Grease  your 
ferrules  well  before  jointing  your  rod  for  use,  and  wipe 
them  thoroughly  inside  and  out  before  packing  it  away. 
Store  it  in  a  perpendicular  or  horizontal  position  and  in  a 
cool  place,  and  tie  no  string  or  tape  tight  about  the  mid- 
dle of  the  bag  which  contains  it. 


The  Outfit — Reels,  45 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE   OUTFIT— REELS. 

Having  selected  our  rod  with  the  circumspection  de- 
manded by  its  importance  as  a  factor  in  determining  the 
quantity  of  pleasure  our  fishing  will  afford,  we  naturally 
turn  to  the  choice  of  a  reel,  since  this  ranks  next  in  con- 
sequence. 

The  spool  portion  of  the  reel  should  be  of  such  capac- 
ity as  to  hold  at  least  one  hundred  and  twenty  yards  of 
-S-line  when  somewhat  carelessly  wound  upon  it,  and 
this  so  that  not  one  single  turn  of  the  line  projects  be- 
yond the  outer  margin  of  the  spool. 

In  salmon-fishing  it  is  not  that  the  line  should  at  all 
times  render  freely  from  the  reel,  less  the  constant  and 
uniform  restraint  of  the  click:  it  is  a  case  of  must — it  is 
absolutely  imperative  if  anything  other  than  bitter  disap- 
pointment is  to  result  from  its  use. 

I  shall  never  forget  a  little  drama  enacted  on  the 
banks  of  a  celebrated  salmon-stream  in  June,  1885.  The 
hero  of  the  play  was  a  man  of  skill  and  experience  as  an 
angler.  His  chief  attendant,  or  gaffer,  was  an  athletic 
Indian  of  such  piscatorial  ambition  that  gall  and  worm- 
wood might  be  ranked  as  nectar  if  compared  to  his  cha- 
grin when  another  canoe  brought  in  more  or  larger  fish 
as  the  result  of  the  day's  sport.  He  was  also  one  who 
dreamed  dreams,  and  saw  visions  in  the  night.     When 


46  The  American  Salmon-fisherman. 

he  first  pushed  the  canoe  from  the  bank  in  the  morning 
he  always  delivered  the  auspices:  "Catch  fish  to-day:  I 
dreamed  woodchuck" — or  something  else,  for  the  omens 
which  portended  good-luck  were  numerous,  and  of  varied 
character. 

On  this  occasion  the  seer  was  on  his  mettle.  His 
practised  eye  and  varied  experience  had  long  since  in- 
formed him  that  his  present  employer  was  one  to 
make  the  most  of  the  smiles  of  fortune.  So  it  came  to 
pass  that  one  auspicious  day  they  raised  and  fastened 
a  fish  clearly  quite  a  little  larger  than  anything  that 
had  been  taken  that  season.  Had  the  fish  been  of  solid 
silver,  as  it  looked  to  be,  neither  could  have  welcomed  it 
with  more  ardor,  or  more  earnestly  desired  to  make  it 
his.  The  contest  was  waged  from  the  canoe  for  quite  a 
while,  and  was  then  adjourned  to  the  bank  as  the  fish  be- 
came more  amenable  to  reason.  They  worked  him  in 
gradually,  but  at  the  approach  of  the  gaffer  he  moved 
out  again  into  the  stream.  Then  came  a  crisis.  Some- 
thing went  wrong  in  the  bowels  of  the  reel,  and  the 
spool  refused  to  turn  under  a  strain  which  threatened 
either  to  pull  the  fish's  head  off  or  break  the  tackle.  The 
angler  was  too  old  a  hand  to  spare  his  rod  in  such  an 
emergency,  and  he  taxed  it  to  the  utmost,  while  he  en- 
deavored with  some  success  to  tear  the  line  from  the  reel 
with  his  right  hand.  The  seer  flew  to  his  assistance. 
Together  they  performed  like  a  dog  in  a  hornet's  nest, 
feeding  out  to  the  struggling  fish  such  instalments  of 
line  as  they  were  able  to  drag  out  by  main  force  despite 
the  obstruction.  Suddenly  the  reel  seemed  to  think  bet- 
ter of  it,  and  resumed  its  usual  complacent  demeanor. 
The  barometer  of  their  feelings,  then  clear  way  down 


The  Outfit — Reels.  47 

below  the  despair  mark,  began  to  rise.  Things  went  on 
in  pretty  much  the  usual  manner  for  another  twenty 
minutes  or  so,  when  the  fish  began  another  tour.  Again 
the  reel  struck  work,  the  leader  parted,  and  away  went 
the  fish,  carrying  with  it  a  new  silver  doctor-fly  and  its 
owner's  happiness.  Words  would  fail  to  do  justice  to 
the  picture.  There  stood  the  angler  and  the  seer  blankly 
looking  at  one  another,  each  with  his  mouth  open  as 
though  he  desired  to  prove  to  his  vis-d-vis  that  the  sud- 
den and  unexpected  disappearance  of  the  salmon  was  not 
due  to  his  having  swallowed  it.  But  let  us  drop  the  cur- 
tain, and  shut  out  the  scene  that  followed. 

This  fragment  has  been  recalled  from  the  past  to  illus- 
trate, and  if  possible  to  enforce,  the  absolute  necessity  of 
a  good  reel.  Xo  human  skill  can  avert  disaster  if  this 
indispensable  part  of  the  outfit  refuses  duty  when  fast  to 
a  fish.  It  is  like  spiking  the  guns  of  an  army  in  the 
crisis  of  battle.  , 

That  the  spool  of  the  reel  has  the  capacity  to  receive 
the  line  when  wound  carefully  thereon,  in  peace  and 
quiet,  and  with  the  aid  of  some  helping  friend,  is  not 
enough.  When  the  result  is  of  moment,  circumstances 
will  preclude  that  care,  and  the  angler  must  rely  on  his 
own  unaided  efforts.  In.  case  of  doubt,  therefore,  let  the 
error  be  on  the  side  of  excessive  rather  than  deficient 
capacity. 

A  reel,  the  diameter  of  the  spool  of  which  is  3f  inches, 
with  a  width  between  the  outer  margins  of  its  sides  of 
Ij  inches,  will  safely  carry  the  desired  length  of  one 
hundred  and  twenty  yards  of  B-\me. 

Other  very  important  features  are  the  mechanism  of 
the  click,  and  the  degree  of  resistance  it  offers.     The 


48  The  Ainerican  Salmon-fisherman. 

primary  object  of  the  click  is  neither  to  burden  the  fish, 
nor  to  furnish  an  orchestral  accompaniment  to  his  play. 
These  are  both  important  functions,  but  they  are  not  the 
function  of  the  click.  It  is  primarily  designed  to  pre- 
vent the  reel  from  overrunning.  It  is  said  a  salmon  can 
swim  fifteen  hundred  feet  a  minute.  I  do  not  know  how 
this  is,  for  I  have  never  measured  it;  but  if  it  is  permis- 
sible to  judge  from  mere  impression,  then  from  fifteen 
to  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  is  nearer  the  mark.  But 
moderation  is  an  excellent  thing,  so  let  us  be  moderate 
and  assume  sixty  miles — or  a  mile  a  second — as  about  the 
thing. 

Now  when  line  is  drawn  from  a  reel  at  any  such 
rate  as  this,  it  is  clear  that  the  spool  must  revolve  with 
considerable  industry.  Salmon  are  quite  self-willed. 
They  never  stop  to  consult  the  angler  as  to  their  move- 
ments, while  they  show  a  decided  predilection  for  ex- 
actly that  which,  viewed  from  the  standpoint  of  the 
canoe  or  bank,  they  ought  not  to  do.  They  will  rush 
out  line  with  a  velocity  and  in  such  quantity  as  to  fill 
the  angler  with  the  liveliest  apprehension,  notwithstand- 
ing that  he  follows  them  down  the  bank  at  his  best  pace, 
totally  regardless  of  the  fact  that  his  shins  are  fast  as- 
suming the  complexion  of  a  huckleberry  pie  from  the  ob- 
stacles which  beset  the  path;  or  despite  the  fact  that  his 
canoe-men  are  nearly  breaking  their  backs  in  the  effort 
to  keep  within  some  kind  of  range.  Does  he  then  slow 
down  gradually,  and  come  to  a  state  of  rest  in  an  orderly 
and  well-conducted  manner  ?  Not  a  whit.  He  bounds 
into  the  air  like  an  acrobat,  falls  back  into  the  water  with 
a  splash,  and  comes  to  as  dead  a  stop  as  if  converted  into 
one  of  the  stones  which  line  the  river-bed.     Here  he  may 


The  Outfit — Reels,  49 

remain  motionless  for  ten  minutes;  or,  in  half  as  many- 
seconds,  he  may  dart  through  the  water  as  though  bound 
over  the  neighboring  hills  to  some  distant  and  less 
troubled  river,  where  man  ventures  not  and  the  insects 
are  less  hot-footed.  The  part  of  the  reel  in  all  this  play- 
is  that  of  second  fiddle.  It  must  be  strictly  a  duet,  and 
never  a  solo.  When  the  fish  runs  it  must  promptly  re- 
spond with  its  cheerful  melody;  when  he  stops,  it  must 
at  once  begin  to  count  "  forty  bars  rest."  For,  if  per- 
versely independent,  it  continues  to  run  on  its  own  ac- 
count, the  outer  turns  then  remaining  on  the  spool  be- 
come loose  and  confused;  the  angler,  hastening  to  regain 
line,  winds  over  them;  the  salmon  takes  a  fresh  run;  the 
line  renders  as  it  should  till  the  place  of  the  last  halt 
is  reached ;  but  there  it  f culs,  refuses  to  render,  the  leader 
parts,  and  the  angler  lifts  up  his  voice  and — weeps. 
.  When  one  hundred  and  twenty  yards  of  line  are  wound 
upon  my  own  reel,  which  seems  to  answer  all  these  re- 
quirements, the  coil  measures  3J  inches  in  diameter.  If 
the  line  is  then  led  through  the  rings  of  a  rod  to  a 
spring-balance,  and  a  strain  is  applied  b}^  bending  the  rod, 
the  click  starts  when  half  a  pound  is  indicated.  When 
the  line  is  half  exhausted  one  pound  is  required  ;  and 
when  the  combined  diameter  of  the  axle  and  the  remain- 
ing line  measures  one  inch,  three  pounds  are  necessary. 

Some  salmon-reels  are  now  to  be  )iad  with  a  drag  ad- 
justable from  the  outside,  Avhich  can  readily  be  made  to 
supplement  the  click  with  any  desired  amount  of  resist- 
ance.    They  are  eifcellent,  but  expensive.* 

*  I  have  recently  seen  a  good  serviceable  reel  of  this  description 
retailing  for  $  5.     The  market  price  of  salmon  fishing  tackle  shows 
a  marked  downward  tendency  at  present. 
4 


50  The  American  Salmon-fisherman. 

Others  are  constructed  with  a  piece  of  flat  spring-metal 
bent  into  the  shape  of  one  half  of  a  bow  wagon-spring. 
This  is  placed  in  the  cavity  formed  between  the  spool  and 
the  outer  plate  on  the  handle-side  of  the  reel,  and  acts  in 
the  following  manner:  The  axle  of  the  reel  is  inserted 
through  a  hole  in  the  middle  of  tliis  spring,  and  the  whole 
is  so  arranged  that  when  the  outer  plate  of  the  reel  and 
the  spool  are  in  position,  the  middle  of  the  springs  bears 
against  the  spool  and  its  extremities  bear  against  the 
outer  plate.  It  acts  as  a  drag,  and  its  vigor  may  be  ad- 
justed by  taking  the  reel  apart,  and  increasing  or  diminish- 
ing the  bend  in  the  spring  as  more  or  less  resistance  is  de- 
sired. But  in  using  a  drag  of  this  kind,  the  bearing  of  the 
spring  upon  the  spool,  which  is  the  place  of  motion,  must 
be  well  lubricated  with  a  lubricant  having  considerable 
body.  Had  this  precaution  been  taken,  the  disaster  with 
which  this  chapter  opens  would  never  have  occurred. 

It  is  apjjarent  from  the  foregoing  that  the  life  of  the 
click  is  one  of  severe  usage,  and  that  if  it  is  to  be  of  long 
duration  every  part  must  be  of  the  very  best. 

Lightness  in  a  salmon-reel,  though  important,  is  not  of 
such  consequence  as  in  a  trout-reel.  One  pound,  when 
empty,  is  a  light  weight  for  one  of  the  capacity  indicated. 
Three  or  four  ounces  additional,  however,  is  of  far  less 
consequence  than  any  possible  deficiency  in  strength  and 
durability.  A  poor  salmon-reel  to  one  who  has  to  use  it, 
is  dear  even  though  a  free  gift. 

LINES. 

The  varieties  and  merits  of  lines  for  fly-fishing,  as  well 
as  the  materials  and  methods  of  manufacture,  were  quite 
fully  considered  in  my  former  volume. 


The  Outfit — Lines.  51 

As  to  the  kind  of  line  to  be  used,  an  enamelled  water- 
proofed line  is  altogether  to  be  preferred.  But  the  best 
is  worth  ten  cents  a  yard,  bringing  the  cost  of  a  line  of 
one  hundred  and  twenty  yards  up  to  the  not  inconsider- 
able sum  of  twelve  dollars. 

Many  economize  here  by  buying  thirty  or  forty  yards 
of  this  line,  and  splicing  to  it  a  hundred  yards  of  twisted 
"  Cuttyhunk"  twelve-thread  linen  line.  Until  the  angler 
fastens  a  fish  the  water-proofed  line  alone  is  in  use,  so 
that  facility  in  casting  the  fly  is  not  affected.  When, 
however,  the  fish  has  been  struck  and  is  in  play,  the  linen 
line  comes  into  use  and  gives  the  latitude  required  to 
humor  its  vagaries.  Twelve-thread  Cuttyhunk-line  ranges 
between  an  E  and  an  F  water-proofed  line  in  diameter. 
It  takes  up  much  less  room  on  the  reel  than  a  water- 
proofed J5-line,  since  the  latter  is  three  sizes  thicker. 
Thus  a  reel  which  will  be  overloaded  with  one  hundred 
and  twenty  yards  of  j5-line,  will  accommodate  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  yards  of  this  combination -line  without 
difficulty.  The  Cuttyhunk-line  costs  one  and  a  half  cents 
a  yard,  and,  since  it  will  lift  a  dead  weight  of  eighteen 
pounds,  has  ample  strength. 

This  is  a  very  good  arrangement  provided  the  splice  is 
well  made.  It  is  difficult  to  imagine  an  angler  in  a  more 
hopelessly  embarrassing  position  than  to  be  fast  to  a 
salmon,  and  find  that  the  splice  of  his  line  has  fouled  in 
the  rod-rings.  The  splice  may  refuse  to  render  at  all,  or 
it  may  run  out  as  smoothly  as  possible  and  then  resist 
every  effort  to  bring  it  back.  The  first  is  the  happier  lot, 
since  then  the  whole  thing  is  over  in  a  breath,  like  pulling 
a  tooth,  and  the  angler  can  abandon  himself  altogether  to 
wishing  his  economy  af  the  bottom  of  the  river.     In  the 


52  The  American  Salmon-fislierman. 

second  case  he  will  lose  his  fish  just  the  same,  but  there 
will  be  an  interval  during  which  he  and  his  gaffer  will  al- 
most climb  out  of  their  clothes  in  a  vain  endeavor  to  pre- 
vent the  inevitable. 

If  this  plan  is  adopted,  therefore,  too  much  care  cannot 
be  given  to  making  the  splice.  To  so  unite  the  lines  that 
they  will  break  rather  than  draw  apart,  presents  not  the 
slightest  difficulty.  But  that  there  be  no  abrupt  increase 
in  diameter  where  at  the  ends  of  the  splice  the  single 
passes  into  the  double  thickness,  is  another  matter. 

To  accomplish  this  we  first  scarf  the  ends  to  be  united 
for  about  a  quarter  of  an  inch — that  is,  trim  them  off  by 
cutting  or  scraping  with  a  knife  so  that  they  gradually 
diminish  in  thickness  to  nothing.  Kext  an  inch  and  a 
quarter  of  each  end  is  well  coated  wuth  shoemaker's  wax, 
and  warmed  so  as  to  induce  the  w^ax  to  penetrate  as  much 
as  possible.  We  will  now  assume  the  water-proofed  line 
to  lead  to  the  right,  and  the  linen  line  to  the  left  of  the 
operator.  Having  provided  himself  with  a  needle  threaded 
with  doubled  silk  well  coated  with  the  same  wax,  he  fast- 
ens the  water-proofed  line  a  foot  or  two  from  the  splice 
so  that  he  can  pull  on  it;  he  then  lakes  three  or  four  turns 
with  the  silk  around  the  water-proofed  line,  then  places  the 
scarf  of  the  linen  line  close  to  it,  and  winds  up  and  on  to  the 
scarf,  drawing  the  silk  tight,  and  winding  as  closely  and 
smoothly  as  possible.  After  having  wound  over  the  scarf, 
he  passes  the  needle  between  the  lines  and  makes  three  or 
four  solid  turns  around  the  linen  line  alone;  then  he  re- 
sumes winding  over  both  parts  for  a  short  distance;  then 
takes  three  or  four  turns  round  the  water-proofed  line 
only;  then  over  both;  then  over  the  linen  line  alone — re- 
peating these  operations  until  the  ^vrapping  extends  be- 


The  Outfit — Lines.  53 

yond  the  scarf  of  the  water-proofed  line  on  to  the  linen  line, 
where  he  fastens  off  with  an  invisible  knot.  He  then 
tests  the  integrity  of  the  job  by  a  spring-balance  pull  of 
ten  pounds,  and  finally  gives  the  entire  wrapping  a  couple 
of  coats  of  shellac.     • 

To  begin  at  the  right  and  wrap  to  the  left,  as  indicated 
above,  will  be  found  more  than  a  mere  matter  of  con- 
venience. Then  the  left  hand  can  hold  the  parts  to  be 
united  parallel  with  one  another  during  the  operation, 
and  keep  their  tension  equal.  A  smoother  as  well  as  a 
more  secure  splice  is  the  result. 

Angling  for  salmon  with  the  fly  is  always  conducted  on 
a  river,  and  down  stream.  When  we  fish  for  trout  in  the 
streams  of  this  country,  the  stream  is  usually  small,  and 
so  protected  by  surrounding  forest  that  the  direction  of 
the  wind  is  of  little  moment.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  we 
fish  in  ponds  or  on  lakes,  we  are  ordinarily  able  so  to 
manoeuvre  as  to  bring  the  wind  from  a  not  unfavorable 
quarter. 

Salmon-rivers  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic  are  ordinarily 
streams  of  considerable  width,  flowing  through  valleys  of 
some  depth.  No  matter  what  may  be  the  direction  of  the 
wind  above  the  hills,  on  the  water  it  usually  draws  either 
up  or  down  stream.  Unless  the  angler  wishes  to  devote 
perhaps  days  in  succession  to  the  amusement  of  twirling 
his  thumbs  in  camp,  he  must  be  prepared  to  fish  irrespec- 
tive of  any  such  trifling  drawback  as  an  adverse  wind. 
To  do  this,  his  line  must  be  one  capable  of  having  con- 
siderable momentum  imparted  to  it  to  overcome  the  wind. 
Now  momentum  is  measured  by  the  velocity  of  the  mov- 
ing body  multiplied  by  its  weight.     Therefore^  to  obtain 


54  The  American  Salmon-fisherman. 

the  required  momentum  it  is  not  enough  that  the  angler 
impart  any  conceivable  velocity  to  his  line.  It  must  also 
have  weight  if  it  is  not  speedily  to  succumb  to  the  oppos- 
ing force  of  the  wind.  Of  course  little  can  be  done  in  the 
teeth  of  half  a  gale  of  wind,  and  nothing  against  a  gale. 
But  against  any  ordinary  summer  breeze  a  water-proofed 
^-line  can  be  made  so  to  hold  its  way,  that  fishing 
can  notwithstanding  be  carried  on  with  pleasure  and 
profit.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  it  has  been  heretofore 
assumed  that  such  a  line  would  be  used,  and  that  a  rod 
with  backbone  enough  to  handle  it  has  been  recommended. 
When  the  wind  is  asleep  or  fair,  one  line  will  answer  al- 
most as  well  as  another.  But  when  it  is  in  opposition  and 
chafes  the  current  into  waves,  then  is  the  time  to  try  to 
beguile  a  forty-pounder;  and  unless  the  opportunity  is  to 
be  ignored,  a  heavy  line  is  indispensable. 

Salmon-lines,  it  is  said,  are  now  in  preparation  for  the 
market,  in  which  some  twenty-five  or  thirty  yards  of  both 
ends  are  of  B  size,  while  the  intermediate  connecting  por- 
tion of  seventy  yards  is  to  be  two  or  three  numbers  thin- 
ner. They  would  seem  to  fill  every  requirement.  They 
will  have  the  weight  to  cast  well,  while  a  greater  length 
of  line  can  be  carried  on  an  equal  capacity  of  reel;  and 
when  the  salmon  makes  a  long  run,  the  thinner  portion  of 
the  immersed  line  will  be  less  affected  by  the  current  than 
if  the  line  were  of  uniform  thickness  throughout. 

LEADEES. 

The  seat  of  two  thirds  of  all  the  anguish  and  despair 
which  checkers  the  bliss  of  the  salmon-angler,  lies  here. 
Do  what  he  will,  the  leader  remains  the  weakest  part  of 
his  outfit.     Though  adequate  to  resist  every  effort  of  the 


The  Otdfit — Leaders.  55 

largest  salmon  when  backed  by  a  good  rod  well  handled, 
yet  when  a  judicious  fish  takes  a  turn  of  the  line  around 
a  rock  or  snag,  and  the  rod  is  thus  neutralized,  it  is  this 
part  that  usually  gives  way  and  wrecks  our  hopes. 

No  excellence  of,  or  lavish  expense  bestowed  on  any 
other  part  of  the  tackle  will  make  good  a  defect  here. 
At  best  its  strength  is  inferior  to  some  of  the  exigencies 
of  its  use,  and  therefore  the  most  assiduous  care  should 
be  taken  that  it  be  not  unnecessarily  deficient  in  this 
respect. 

To  accurately  judge  the  quality  of  gut  in  the  shop  is  as 
diflicult  as  to  accurately  judge  the  quality  of  a  horse  in 
the  jockey's  stable.  When  the  hank  is  opened,  and  each 
strand  is  drawn  through  the  fingers  and  separately  sub- 
mitted to  inspection,  then  it  is  easier. 

The  first  requisite  in  selecting  gut  for  salmon-fishing  is 
roundness;  the  second  is  uniformity  in  diameter  from  end 
to  end;  third  is  thickness;  the  fourth  is  length;  the  fifth 
is  elasticity  or  springiness  when  bent;  and  the  sixth  a 
uniform  glassy  transparency  untinged  with  yellow.  The 
order  indicates  the  relati^ve  value  of  these  characteristics. 
Perfect  roundness  is  worth  more  than  all  the  others  put 
together — indeed  its  absence  is  a  defect  that  no  excess  of 
other  merit  can  make  good.  The  color  used  to  be  a  more 
reliable  guide  than  it  is  now,  when  chemical  have  so 
largely  superseded  mechanical  means  in  cleaning  and 
bleaching  the  gut. 

No  expert  pretends  to  judge  the  quality  of  gut  except 
with  the  aid  of  a  strong  light. 

The  eye  must  be  in  constant  training,  and  as  keen  to 
detect  the  slight  variations  of  appearance  as  that  of  a 
dyer.     Indeed   there  is   no   other   article   of  which  the 


56  The  American  Salmon-fisherman, 

angler  makes  use,  tlie  quality  of  which  it  is  so  difficult  to 
determine  by  mere  inspection.  Few  dealers  dare  to  rely 
altogether  on  their  own  unaided  judgment,  but  habitually 
keep  on  hand  samples  of  known  quality,  upon  a  compari- 
son with  which  they  largely  depend. 

Though  the  directions  of  the  books  for  this  purpose 
would  lead  one  to  suppose  that  the  qualities  desirable  in 
gut  were  many,  in  reality  they  are  but  two — length  and 
strength.  The  first  may  of  course  be  decided  at  a  glance. 
All  the  other  points  to  which  attention  is  recommended, 
are  but  symptoms  from  which  the  strength  of  the  gut  is 
to  be  diagnosed. 

Economy  and  prudence  both  require  that  every  salmon- 
angler  should  make  a  hank  of  good  gut  part  of  his  outfit. 
The  upper  two  thirds  of  a  leader  will  still  be  perfectly 
sound  and  reliable,  when  the  lower  third  has  become 
frayed  and  unsafe.  If  it  is  merely  a  question  of  replacing 
three  or  four  feet  of  the  outer  end  of  a  leader,  it  will 
probably  be  done  when  it  should  be  done — that  is,  at  the 
first  indication  that  the  strength  of  that  part  has  become 
impaired.  But  the  high  first  cost,  and  the  limited  num- 
ber usually  in  reserve,  are  apt  to  induce  the  angler  to  dis- 
card a  leader  with  reluctance,  and  only  after  he  can  no 
longer  coerce  himself  into  believing  it  safe. 

Though  I  have  not  the  most  abiding  confidence  in  the 
practical  value  of  printed  directions  for  this  purpose,  still 
I  will  do  my  best  to  aid  in  the  selection  of  this  hank  of 
gut.  We  face  the  strongest  attainable  light,  and  hold 
the  bundle  of  gut  in  front  of  us  so  that  one  end  projects 
toward  the  light  and  the  other  toward  us,  each  hand 
holding  an  end  of  the  bundle.  We  now  bring  our  hands 
toward  one  another,  thus  compelling  the  strands  to  sepa- 


The  Outfit — Leaders.  67 

rate,  and  forcing  the  gut  to  bend  upward  in  a  curve  some- 
thing less  than  a  half -circle.  In  this  position  it  will  be 
noticed  that  a  certain  portion  of  the  curve  seems  more 
highly  illuminated  than  the  rest.  Holding  the  gut  thus 
bent,  we  raise  first  one  hand  and  then  the  other,  so  that 
this  high  light  shall  run  slowly  to  and  fro  over  the  curved 
gut  from  end  to  end.  During  this  operation  round  gut 
will  present  a  uniform  color,  while  "  flats"  will  reflect  the 
light  unequally  and  seem  to  scintillate.  The  springiness 
of  the  gut  will  be  determined  at  the  same  time.  The 
length  of  the  strands  has  also  been  ascertained  by  almost 
the  first  glance;  also  that  the  gut  has  a  glassy  appearance, 
free  from  any  yellow  tinge.  If  we  have  a  gauge  of  the 
form  shown  on  page  YO  of  "  Fly-Rods  and  Fly-Tackle,"  or 
any  similar  device  for  measuring  the  thickness  of  gut,  we 
now  use  it.  If  we  have  not,  we  have  at  least  provided 
ourselves  with  some  old  and  well-tried  leader  to  serve  as 
a  standard  of  comparison.  We  select  the  thickest  gut 
we  can  find,  but  by  no  means  forgetting  that  roundness 
is  a  sine  qua  non.  "We  test  a  number  of  strands  to  be 
sure  that  the  thickness  is  uniform  from  end  to  end. 
That  gut  should  be  conical  instead  of  cylindrical,  is  a 
quite  common  and  easily  overlooked,  and  an  absolutely 
fatal  defect.  It  is  not  strong  enough  under  conditions 
requiring  gut  of  its  larger  diameter,  while  it  is  too  obtru- 
sive to  use  where  its  thinner  end  would  suflUce.  It  is  dif- 
ficult to  conceive  of  any  circumstances  under  which  it  is 
available. 

But  we  have  selected  a  hank  of  gut  the  thickness  and 
length  of  the  strands  of  which  are  satisfactory,  while  we 
believe  that  it  has  the  strength  its  diameter  would  indi- 
cate.    Still  we  but  believe — we  ought  to  know.     So  we 


58  The  American  Salmon-fishermmi. 

select  three  or  four  strands  as  nearly  as  possible  of  aver- 
age quality,  soften  them  well  in  tej^id  water,  tie  a  loop  in 
each  end,  run  a  lead-pencil  through  one  loop,  hook  a 
spring-balance  into  the  other,  and  ascertain  the  breaking 
strain.  It  ought  to  be  ten  pounds  or  over,  unless  the 
break  occurs  at  one  of  the  knots.  We  may  then  soak 
that  strand  again  and  repeat  the  test. 

I  am  firmly  of  the  opinion,  and  consequently  strongly 
advise,  that  this  form  of  test  should  be  applied  to  every 
leader  to  be  used  in  salmon-fishing.  It  is  the  only 
method  by  which  the  strength  of  a  leader  can  be  deter- 
mined. The  most  expert  may  be  deceived  as  to  the 
strength  of  gut — or  granting  that  the  gut  is  unexception- 
able, still  there  may  be  one  defective  strand  among  the 
many  of  which  the  leader  is  composed,  or  one  defective 
knot  or  place  in  some  sti*and  otherwise  excellent.  I  insist 
that  my  single-gut  salmon-leaders  shall  safely  endure  a 
strain  of  eight  pounds  applied  with  the  spring-balance, 
and  find  no  difficulty  in  procuring  gut  at  a  reasonable 
price  that  will  produce  such  leaders. 

I  am  quite  aware  that  some  expert  anglers  think  that  a 
test  so  severe  impairs  the  ultimate  strength  of  the  gut, 
and  that  it  is  therefore  injudicious.  This  is  either  so,  or 
it  is  not  so.  It  is  a  matter  to  be  determined  not  by 
theory  but  by  experiment,  and  it  is  capable  of  being  so 
determined.  Now  during  the  last  ten  years  I  have  made 
hundreds  of  leaders  for  myself  and  friends,  every  one  of 
which  has  been  so  tested.  The  strain  imposed  has  of 
course  been  proportioned  to  the  thickness  of  the  gut  and 
the  use  for  which  the  leader  was  designed,  but  I  do  not 
think  that  any  material  variance  in  its  proportionate  se- 
verity has  been  made.     It  is  my  practice  never  to  use  a 


The  Outfit — Leaders.  69 

leader  which  has  been  coiled  up  and  allowed  to  dry, 
without  repeating  the  original  test.  The  terminal  three 
or  four  feet  of  a  leader  I  usually  renew  two  or  three 
times  before  the  leader  is  thrown  aside;  and  always,  after 
such  a  renewal,  I  repeat  the  original  test.  Again,  if  I 
entertain  the  slightest  doubt  of  the  integrity  of  a  leader 
during  its  use,  I  at  once  repeat  the  test.  The  claim  that 
I  do  not  speak  at  random  in  this  matter  seems  to  me, 
therefore,  not  unreasonable.  I  have  yet  to  see  or  to  hear 
of  any  occurrence  in  the  use  of  these  leaders,  which  would 
tend  to  cast  the  shadow  of  a  doubt  upon  the  propriety  of 
the  test. 

But  again,  if  the  test  impairs  the  strength  of  the  gut  to 
an  objectional  degree,  should  not  that  fact  appear  in  the 
course  of  so  long  continued  a  practice  ?  Should  not  a 
leader  so  tested  show  the  impairment  of  its  strength  by 
breaking  again  and  again,  each  time  with  a  diminished 
strain  ?  Such  has  not  been  the  fact.  In  testing  a  leader 
to  eight  pounds,  it  may  break  at  three  pounds  on  the 
first  trial,  at  six  on  the  second,  seven  on  the  next,  and  so 
on  until  a  strain  is  reached  within  half  a  pound  of  which 
the  leader  will  thereafter  break  every  time.  This  is  its 
ultimate  strength.  It  may  give  way  at  half  a  pound  or 
so  on  either  side  of  this,  as  it  is  broken  again  and  again, 
but  the  difference  in  amount  is  not  material. 

I  have  dwelt  at  length  on  this  because  thoroughly  im- 
pressed with  its  great  importance.  Times  will  come  in 
the  experience  of  every  salmon-fisherman  when  he  must 
throw  finesse  to  the  winds,  and  make  a  direct  issue  be- 
tween the  strength  of  the  fish  and  that  of  his  tackle.  11 
he  has  tested  his  leader  he  knows  the  extent  of  his  re- 
sources, and,  if  defeat  is  the  result,  that  it  was  inevitable. 


60  The  American  Salmon-fisherman, 

No  touch  of  remorse  then  embitters  the  misfortune.  At 
times  when  the  line  fouls  on  some  rock  or  snag,  and  a 
freshly  fastened  fish  can  put  forth  his  strength  against 
an  unyielding  resistance,  no  single  leader  can  withstand 
the  strain.  But  except  under  such  or  similar  circum- 
stances, a  leader  which  has  borne  a  test  of  eight  pounds 
will  not  be  found  at  fault  should  the  fish  escape. 

"  Of  all  sad  words  of  tongue  or  pen, 

The  saddest  are  these:  It  might  have  been!" 

These  well-known  lines  apply  with  as  much  force  to 
salmon-fishing  as  to  any  other  phase  of  man's  life. 

Some  seek  to  avoid  this  result  by  the  use  of  braided  or 
twisted  leaders  of  many  strands.  I  do  not  believe  in  it. 
The  result  should  not  be  assured,  or  skill  and  promptness 
of  resource  are  eliminated,  and  angling  ceases  to  be  sport 
in  the  proper  sense  of  the  term.  It  is  like  shooting  at  a 
sitting  bird.  But  there  is  another  consideration  of  equal 
moment.  The  young  and  foolish  among  fishes,  as  among 
men,  are  easily  led  astray  by  temptation.  But  the  patri- 
archs— and  these  are  the  objects  of  the  true  angler's  pur- 
suit— are  more  prone  to  look  before  they  leap. 

Upon  one  occasion  when  a  run  of  large  fish  were  on 
the  ground,  I  lost  two  fine  fellows  through  the  fouling  of 
the  line.  In  both  cases  the  leader  was  broken.  I  was 
anxious  to  take  a  large  fish  the  next  day  to  ship  to  a 
friend  in  a  distant  city.  That  it  should  be  done  on  that 
day  was  of  importance,  since  otherwise  it  could  not  be 
sent  through  without  lying  over  Sunday  on  the  way; 
while  if  I  waited  till  the  next  week  the  large  fish  might 
have  passed  on  up  the  river.  An  English  gentleman  of- 
fered me  the  use  of  a  braided  leader.     I  must  do  him  the 


The  Outfit — Leaders,  61 

justice  to  say  he  used  but  a  single  gut  himself.  Indeed 
he  was  a  thorough  angler  of  the  best  type,  and  one  who, 
when  he  had  overcome  a  fish,  looked  upon  his  ultimate 
capture  or  escape  with  a  complacency  closely  approach- 
ing indifference. 

It  was  a  very  fair  fishing  day — overcast  and  with  wind. 
Seven  large  salmon  came  to  my  fly  on  that  day,  but 
every  one  rose  short,  and  not  one  could  be  coaxed  up  a 
second  time.  Early  in  the  day  this  result — or  rather  lack 
of  result — was  attributed  to  the  obtrusiveness  of  the  lead- 
er, but  I  stuck  to  it  on  principle  expressly  to  test  the 
question.  This  experience,  it  must  be  admitted,  is  rather 
brief  to  warrant  any  very  decisive  generalization.  Still 
I  formed  the  opinion  then,  and  I  hold  it  still,  that  this 
conduct  of  the  fish  was  directly  attributable  to  the  char- 
acter of  the  leader. 

However  this  may  be,  it  must  be  admitted  that  a  good 
single  leader  is  less  conspicuous  than  one  which  is  braided 
or  twisted  of  many  strands.  Since,  then,  there  is  less  to 
excite  suspicion,  while  the  temptation  remains  the  same 
in  either  case,  more  fish  should  be  coaxed  to  take  the  fly 
with  a  single  than  with  a  braided  or  twisted  leader, — and, 
making  due  allowance  for  all  the  vicissitudes  of  fortune 
which  attend  this  sport,  I  entertain  no  doubt  that  with 
equal  skill,  he  that  uses  a  single  leader  will  at  the  end  of 
two  weeks'  fishing  score  considerably  more  and  larger 
fish  than  he  who  follows  the  other  plan. 

To  facilitate  casting,  it  is  usual  and  advisable  to  supple- 
ment the  line  with  from  four  to  six  feet  of  braided  or 
twisted  gut,  and  to  attach  the  single  leader  to  that.  If 
the  fish  are  to  be  gaffed  from  the  shore,  the  entire  length 


63  The  American  Salmon-JlsheTman. 

of  the  compound  leader  from  line  to  fly  should  be  about 
one  foot  less  than  the  distance  from  the  tip  of  the  rod  to 
the  reel.  But  if  the  gafling  is  to  proceed  from  the  canoe, 
so  that  the  distance  between  the  angler  and  the  gaffer  is 
fixed  and  unchangeable,  then  this  length  should  be  ab- 
breviated by  eighteen  inches  or  so,  in  order  that  the  fish 
may  be  more  readily  brought  within  reach. 

At  the  knots  lies  the  weakest  part  of  a  leader,  no  matter 
how  flaccid  the  gut  may  be  made  by  soaking  before  they 
are  tied.  This  results  from  that  principle  which  we  have 
all  seen  applied  by  salesmen  in  retail-shops.  He  makes  up 
the  goods  sold  into  a  package,  binds  it  with  twine,  w^raps 
the  twine  in  a  peculiar  way  about  his  left  hand,  and  with 
a  sharp  jerk  parts  a  cord  with  ease  which  could  resist  a 
direct  strain  that  would  cut  his  fingers  to  the  bone.  He 
makes  one  strand  cut  the  other.  Some  of  the  leading 
anglers  of  England  recommend  that  the  leader  be  built 
up  in  the  usual  way  with  those  sliding  knots  known  as 
"water-knots;"  that  the  knots  be  brought  together  with- 
in an  eighth  of  an  inch ;  and  that  then  a  whipping  of  silk 
be  placed  between  them  to  act  as  a  cushion.  As  usual, 
there  are  two  sides  to  this  question.  After  the  applica- 
tion of  the  silk  the  knots  are  undoubtedly  at  least  as 
strong  as  any  other  part  of  the  leader.  But  the  knots  on 
a  leader  are  already  sufficiently  obtrusive,  and  this  course 
renders  them  even  more  so.  But  whether  the  verdict  be 
for  or  against  this  innovation,  the  plan  of  tying  the  lead- 
er in  the  usual  manner,  and  then  whipping  the  project- 
ing end  of  the  knots  down  so  that  there  is  a  whipping  on 
each  side  of  the  knots, — not  between, — which  one  often 
sees  on  salmon-leaders  in  this  country,  serves  no  useful 


Tlie  Outfit — Leaders.  63 

purpose.     It  is  a  positive  disadvantage,  and  an  abomina- 
tion. 

In  my  former  volume  considerable  space  was  given  to 
the  question  which  is  the  best  color  for  leaders.  The  re- 
sults of  many  experiments  to  determine  this  question,  ex- 
tending over  some  months,  and  the  manner  in  which  they 
were  conducted,  were  detailed.  Nothing  has  since  oc- 
curred to  change  the  opinions  there  expressed.  Referring 
him  who  is  curious  to  know  the  why  and  wherefore  to 
that  volume,  a  recapitulation  of  a  few  of  the  results  so 
obtained  may  not  be  amiss. 

Take  it  at  all  times  of  the  day  and  in  all  kinds  of 
water,  a  leader  which  has  been  dyed  with  "Arnold's 
Writing  Fluid  "  diluted  with  about  half  its  bulk  of  water, 
will  average  as  the  least  conspicuous.  The  tint  should 
be  light  if  the  water  to  be  fished  is  clear,  but  deeper 
if  it  is  brown.  Gut  can  thus  be  dyed  without  the  aid 
of  heat,  and,  for  that  or  some  other  reason,  its  pristine 
strength  does  not  seem  to  be  impaired  in  the  process. 
As  any  shade  from  almost  black  to  the  faintest  tinge  of 
greenish  blue -can  be  obtained  by  varying  the  propor- 
tions of  ink  and  water,  and  the  length  of  the  exposure, 
it  would  seem  unwise  to  resort  to  any  dye  that  requires 
heat — such  as  the  customary  logwood  and  copperas,  for 
example. 

When  the  sun  is  near  the  meridian  of  an  unclouded 
day  nothing  is  less  conspicuous  than  uncolored  gut.  But 
in  the  morning  and  afternoon,  and  when  the  sky  is  over- 
cast, the  ink-dye  has  the  advantage.  If  apprised  that 
the  stream  to  be  fished  is  clear,  the  depth  of  tint  should 
not  exceed  that  of  the  blue  sky  on  an  unclouded  day. 


64  The  American  Sahnon  fisherman. 

Any  leader  will  take  salmon,  more  or  less,  as  indeed  I 
believe  would  be  occasionally  the  case  were  the  line  bent 
directly  to  the  fly.  But  I  cannot  doubt  that  he  who  best 
conceals  the  connection  between  himself  and  his  fly  will 
have  the  advantage  both  in  number  and  size  of  fish 
taken,  other  things  being  equal. 


Outfit— The  Gaff,  65 


CHAPTER  IV. 

OUTFIT—THE  GAFF. 

When  preparing  for  my  first  salmon-fishing  expedition, 
an  experienced  friend  sent  me  two  tracings  from  gaffs 
which  he  had  used,  recommending  them  as  good  in  form 
and  size.  Having  selected  that  which  seemed  to  me 
most  conformable  to  the  laws  of  mechanics  as  applied  to 
the  problem,  as  I  understood  it,  I  ordered  one  made  ac- 
cordingly. It  was  delivered.  After  stoning  up  the  point 
until  it  was  smooth  and  keen,  it  was  placed  among  the 
other  items  of  my  outfit,  erased'  from  my  list,  and  dis- 
missed from  mind. 

At  length  the  sun  rose  upon  the  long-wished-for  day. 
At  an  early  hour  my  Indians  presented  themselves,  partly 
to  report  ready  for  duty,  and  partly  to  procure  and  fit  a 
handle  to  my  gaff.  Tom,  the  name  of  the  Indian  who 
was  to  be  my  presiding  genius,  and  who  was  generally 
admitted  to  be  the  most  experienced  and  skilled  in  all 
that  related  to  salmon-fishing  of  any  guide  in  that  region, 
when  his  eye  lit  upon  the  gaff  I  had  so  fondly  thought 
was  all  that  the  most  exacting  could  desire,  changed 
countenance.  Assuming  an  expression  from  which  the 
ordinary  observer  might  surmise  that  it  tainted  the  very 
air  he  breathed,  he  took  the  gaff  in  his  hands  and 
said,  "  Humph  !  wire  very  thin— cut  fish  much."  Then, 
grasping  it  by  the  point  and  shank,  he  straightened  the 
5 


66  The  American  Salmon-fisherman. 

hook  as  though  it  were  made  of  lead,  and  threw  it  down 
with  "Humph  !  dam  gaff  no  good." 

Here  was  indeed  a  dilemma,  and  none  the  less  embar- 
rassing because  totally  unanticipated.  It  needed  no  argu- 
ment or  further  demonstration  to  show  he  was  right.  It 
was  self-evident.  The  proprietor  of  my  temporary  home 
was  called  into  council  to  determine  w^hat  was  to  be  done. 
He  at  once  kindly  solved  the  problem  by  tendering  the 
use  of  a  gaff  of  his  own.  Its  color,  resembling  that  of 
the  barrel  of  a  musket  of  the  last  century,  showed  it  to 
be  a  veteran,  and  its  history,  then  briefly  recounted, 
placed  the  number  of  salmon  which  had  been  its  victims 
at  a  figure  which  I  am  afraid  to  repeat,  lest  1  be  thought 
credulous  or  guilty  of  exaggeration. 

As  Tom  examined  the  implement  his  clearing  counte- 
nance sufficiently  expressed  his  approval,  and  rendered 
his  sententious  "  This  gaff  all  right "  unnecessary  to  relieve 
my  anxiety. 

From  the  first  time  I  ever  took  a  fly-rod  in  my  hands 
until  the  present  day,  it  has  always  been  my  practice  to 
pump  men  of  this  character  until  the  well  of  their  ex- 
perience and  information  fairly  sucks  dry.  No  allegiance 
to  any  pet  theory  obscures  their  prompt  perception  of 
facts.  Hard  facts,  and  these  alone,  appeal  to  their  com- 
prehension, alone  govern  their  opinions,  and  guide  their 
conduct.  Their  low  average  of  intelligence  as  compared 
with  that  of  their  employers,  and  their  scanty  information 
of  other  and  outside  matters,  are  apt  to  induce  an  under- 
estimate of  their  judgment  and  ability  within  the  com- 
paratively narrow  scope  of  their  specialty.  It  should  not 
be  forgotten  that  the  power  of  observation  of  these  men 
is  not  only  hereditary,  but  is  trained  from  their  earliest 


Outfit— The  Gaff.  67 

childhood  ;  while  being  in  close  contact  with  the  fish  year 
after  year  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the  season, 
in  every  possible  variety  of  weather,  stage  of  water,  and 
other  circumstances,  and  with  almost  every  conceivable 
method  of  fly-fishing,  and  almost  every  conceivable  grade 
of  angler  constantly  before  their  eyes,  their  opportunities 
for  observation  far  exceed  those  possible  to  any  one  who 
does  not  make  salmon-fishing  the  sole  business  of  life. 

I  cannot  but  think  that  he  who,  without  intimating  his 
own  opinion,  will  by  a  system  of  judicious  questions  rub 
his  pet  theories  against  the  touchstone  of  these  men's 
great  and  varied  experience,  will  find  the  practice  of 
value.  Fly-fishing  is  a  practical  art,  and  lies  quite  with- 
out the  sphere  of  metaphysics.  A  theory  thus  confirmed 
may  be  relied  upon  with  redoubled  confidence  ;  but  if 
contradicted,  a  careful  review  of  the  premises  from  which 
it  is  deduced  will  certainly  not  be  amiss.  Are  we  not  as  a 
class  somewhat  prone  to  generalize  from  a  rather  meagre 
array  of  facts  ?  If  so,  any  check  which  will  tend  to  verify 
a  conclusion  must  be  of  value. 

Through  the  five  weeks  during  which  Tom  presided 
over  my  fortunes  with  the  salmon,  the  pump  was  kept  in 
constant  operation.  He  read  me  some  dozen  lectures  on 
the  subject  of  gaffs,  always  winding  up  by  reference  to, 
and  praise  of,  the  veteran  instrument  we  had  borrowed. 

If  skill  in  the  use  of  a  tool  makes  a  man  a  reliable  critic 
of  what  that  tool  should  be,  then  Tom's  voice  on  the  sub- 
ject of  gaffs  was  as  the  voice  of  one  clothed  with  author- 
ity. During  all  that  time  there  was  never  one  single 
false  motion,  or  one  single  mishap.  He  never  moved  till 
the  time  was  opportune,  and  then,  whether  in  mid-river 
he  plunged  the  gaff  beneath  the  water  till  but  a  foot  or 


68  The  American  Salmon Jisherman, 

two  of  its  handle  was  above  the  surface,  or  whether  he 
assayed  the  fish  from  the  bank,  it  was  all  one.  Almost 
before  it  was  possible  to  realize  it  the  crisis  was  over,  and 
his  assistant  was  teaching  the  salmon  resignation  by  the 
vigorous  application  of  a  club  or  stone  to  its  head. 

At  last  I  came  to  think  this  gaff  was  "  big  medicine," 
and  that  as  long  as  we  had  it  everything  would  be  lovely. 
I  coveted  my  neighbor's  goods. 

The  sun  sank  behind  the  western  hills  as  calmly  regard- 
less of  the  fact  that  it  thus  closed  our  salmon-fishing  for 
that  year,  as  the  sun  is  apt  to  be  of  human  affairs.  It  was 
Saturday  evening,  when  fishing  is  forbidden  from  six 
o'clock  until  Monday  morning.  I  had  one  nice  fish  of 
twenty-eight  pounds  in  the  canoe,  and  had  raised  a  perfect 
whale  to  my  fly.  While  in  the  midst  of  tendering  to  him 
in  orderly  succession  sample  after  sample  from  my  varied 
stock  of  wiles,  the  voice  of  one  of  the  river  guardians, 
who  had  been  watching  the  proceedings  from  the  bank 
with  friendly  interest,  suggested  that  the  time  was  up.  I 
reeled  in,  seeking  consolation  in  the  thought  that  self- 
denial  was  a  virtue,  and  that  virtue  was  its  own  reward.  It 
seemed  to  me  the  reward  was  rather  meagre.  How  will- 
ingly would  I  have  assigned,  transferred,  and  set  over  all 
my  right,  title,  and  interest  in  and  to  the  said  reward,  to 
any  one  for  another  offer  from  that  splendid  fish.  But 
the  eye  of  the  minion  of  the  law  was  upon  me,  and  I  re- 
membered that  it  is  recommended,  "  Affect  a  virtue  if  you 
have  it  not."  So,  turning  our  backs  upon  the  scene,  we 
poled  up  the  river  with  heavy  hearts. 

We  approached  the  house  under  the  eye  of  our  landlord, 
Tom  lugging  the  heavy  fish  upon  his  shoulder.  It  was  a 
beauty,  and  after  the  usual  inspection  and  comments,  Tom 


Oxdfit—The  Gaff.  69 

carried  it  off  to  the  ice-house.  I  was  too  obtuse  to  under- 
stand a  mild  suggestion  from  my  host,  that  if  I  varied  my 
usual  practice  of  giving  my  fish  to  the  Indians  by  turning 
this  one  over  to  him,  he  would  find  it  very  useful. 

A  hint  to  the  wise  and  the  wily  is  sufficient.  As  soon 
as  his  back  was  turned  I  cut  the  lashings  that  bound  the 
gaff  to  its  staff,  and  hid  it  in  the  bottom  of  my  trunk.  Hav- 
ing thus  nine  points  of  the  law  in  my  favor,  I  approached 
the  owner  of  the  gaff  in  pursuit  of  the  lacking  tenth,  with 
that  placid  smile  and  bland  demeanor  which  usually  veil 
duplicity.  As  I  expected,  another  mild  intimation  that 
the  salmon  would  be  useful  was  soon  offered.  But  I  was 
very  doubtful  what  I  should  do  with  that  salmon.  Then 
I  changed  the  subject  to  the  gaff — where  it  was  made  and 
whom  by,  and  could  one  like  it  be  had,  and  at  what  cost. 
No  sooner  did  he  name  the  price  than  I  pushed  the  money 
into  his  astonished  hand,  told  him  to  go  and  have  one 
made,  and  that  the  salmon  he  desired  should  be  his  for 
the  trouble;  that  as  a  good  citizen  my  duty  to  my  fellow- 
countrymen  forbade  me  to  allow  a  gaff  so  perfect  in  every 
respect  to  leave  my  possession;  that  it  was  buried  in  my 
trunk,  and  that  there  it  should  remain  until  I  arrived  in 
New  York. 

When  I  consider  the  matter  in  the  abstract,  I  am  forced 
to  admit  it  was  rather  a  shabby  return  for  his  kindness. 
But  when  I  look  upon  it  in  the  concrete — on  the  gaff  it- 
self as  it  now  lies  before  me — my  scruples  vanish,  and  I 
regard  it  with  the  utmost  complacency.  At  all  events,  if 
its  acquisition  was  a  wrong,  that  wrong  is  mine,  and  the 
reader  in  partaking  of  its  benefits  need  assume  no  moral 
responsibility  therefor. 

Should  I  say  I  had  never  seen  a  really  good  gaff  in  a 


70  The  American  Salmon-fisherman. 

fishing-tackle  store  the  statement  would  not  be  far  wide 
of  the  truth.  It  is  but  another  example  of  how  difficult 
it  is  to  induce  a  mechanic  properly  to  make  any  article 

the  use  of  which  he  does 
not  understand.  A  paper 
tracing  giving  the  size  and 
curve  is  quite  insufficient  to 
guarantee  the  result,  as  the 
experience  already  given 
proves.  Some  little  par- 
ticularity in  describing  this 
indispensable  part  of  our 
outfit  will  therefore  not  be 
amiss. 

The  point  should  be  keen 
and  conical,  running  in  the 
length  of  one  inch,  by  a 
taper  bounded  by  straight 
lines,  from  nothing  to 
about  three  sixteenths  of 
an  inch  diameter.  Frjm 
thence  the  thickness  should 
gradually  increase  to  where 
the  hook  merges  into  the 
shank,  where  it  should  at- 
tain  a  thickness    of  three 

eighths   of   an   inch.     The 
Fig.  6.-The  Veteran  Gaff.  ^^^^^     ^^^^j^     ^^     ^^^     ^^ 

more  inches  long,  the  upper  six  or  eight  inches  of 
which  should  be  flattened  out  to  a  width  of  about  half 
an  inch,  and  should  terminate  in  a  spur,  like  a  short 
thick  nail,  since  it  is  to  serve  the  same  purpose.     This 


Outfit— The  Gaff,  71 

spur  projects  at  a  right  angle  from  the  flattened  portion  in 
a  direction  away  from  the  point,  and  should  be  about  half 
an  inch  long.  The  gaff  should  be  of  steel  and  brought 
to  a  spring  temper,  and  be  of  sufficient  stiffness  to  resist 
a  pretty  strong  effort  to  open  the  curve.  It  is  important 
that  the  depth  of  the  hook  should  exceed  its  greatest 
width  by  at  least  one  quarter  of  an  inch.  Next  to  over- 
thin  or  clumsily  ihick  wire,  this  lack  of  depth  on  the 
point-side  of  the  gaff  is  one  of  the  most  common,  as  it  is 
one  of  the  most  serious,  of  faults. 

The  measurements  of  the  "  veteran"  gaff,  of  which  the 
preceding  figure  is  a  portrait,  are  as  follows  :  From  bot- 
tom of  hook  to  spur  on  end  of  shank,  measured  on  a 
straight  line  and  not  around  the  curve,  twelve  inches. 
Width  of  hook  opposite  point,  two  and  three  quarter 
inches;  width  of  hook  at  widest  portion,  three  and  one 
quarter  inches;  depth  of  hook,  measured  from  a  line 
drawn  straight  across  from  the  point  to  the  shank,  three 
and  nine  sixteentlis  inches.  All  these  measurements  relate 
to  the  inner,  not  to  the  outer  margin  of  the  curve  of  the 
hook.  The  point-side  is  perfectly  straight,  the  increased 
width  of  the  hook  resulting  from  an  outward  curve  of 
the  shank-side.  Were  I  to  change  this  gaff  in  any  way,  it 
would  be  by  adding  a  quarter  of  an  inch  to  the  length 
of  the  point-side,  tbus  making  the  depth  of  the  hook 
three  and  thirteen  sixteenths  inches. 

A  gaff  of  these  dimensions  I  recommend  to  the  reader 
as  equally  adapted  to  secure  a  grilse  of  six,  or  a  salmon  of 
forty  pounds.  A  smaller  gaff  may  be  found  inadequate, 
a  larger  one  is  unnecessary.  Thus  armed,  the  angler  can- 
not go  amiss. 

That  there  may  be  no  mistake  in  reference  to  this  es- 


72  The  American  Salmon-fisherman. 

sential  part  of  our  outfit,  and  since  our  dealers  in  fishing- 
tackle  seem  to  understand  its  requisites  so  imperfectly,  I 
will  so  far  recapitulate  as  to  formulate  rules  for  its  selec- 
tion or  manufacture,  their  order  indicating  their  relative 
importance  in  my  judgment. 

1st.  The  hook  must  be  stiff  enough  to  withstand  a  quite 
forcible  effort  to  straighten  it — otherwise  the  gaff  is  per- 
fectly worthless. 

2d.  The  depth  of  the  point-side  must  exceed  the  width 
of  the  hook  at  its  widest  point,  measuring  inside  the 
curve,  by  at  least  one  quarter,  better  still  by  three  eighths, 
of  an  inch. 

3d.  The  wire  must  not  be  so  thin  as  to  cut  the  fish 
much  in  lifting  it  from  the  water;  it  should  not  be  so 
thick  as  to  be  clumsy. 

4th.  The  point  should  be  long,  keen,  and  conical. 

6th.  The  gaff  should  be  neither  polished  nor  nickel- 
plated. 

6th.  It  should  be  constructed  to  lash  upon  an  impro- 
vised handle,  rather  than  to  be  screwed  into  a  staff  to  be 
carried  with  it. 

7th.  The  point-side  of  the  gaff  should  be  straight. 

This  form  of  gaff  is  as  much  better  than  one  which 
screws  into  a  handle,  as  it  is  more  convenient.  The 
angler  carries  with  him  nothing  but  the  steel.  When  he 
arrives  on  the  fishing-ground,  his  gaffer  cuts  a  handle  of 
such  length  and  weight  as  his  experience  and  physical 
peculiarities  lead  him  to  prefer.  He  flattens  off  one  side 
of  one  end  of  this,  makes  a  hole  for  or  drives  in  the  spur 
to  prevent  the  gaff  from  slipping,  and  binds  it  fast  to  the 
handle  with  twine.  When  the  fishing  is  over,  the  twine 
is  cut,  the  steel  removed,  and  the  handle  thrown  away. 


Outfit— The  Gaff.  73 

With  this  arrangement  the  point  is  on  one  side  of  the 
shank  of  the  gaff,  while  the  handle  rests  upon  the  opposite 
side.  Thus  the  whole  width  of  the  gaff  is  available,  and 
there  is  less  danger  of  touching  the  fish  with  the  staff 
when  placing  the  gaff  in  position  for  use. 

It  is  usual  to  make  the  point-side  of  the  gaff  flare  away 
from  the  shank,  on  the  theory  that  when  the  staff  is  in 
the  usual  position,  the  point  will  "be  nearly  horizontal  and 
thus  pass  directly  through  the  fish.  This  seems  to  me  a 
mistake.  The  less  the  direction  of  the  point  departs  from 
the  direction  of  the  force  applied  to  drive  it  home,  the 
more  easily  and  more  surely  it  will  penetrate.  The  mar- 
gin that  intervenes  between  a  saved  fish  and  a  lost  fish,  is 
often  very  small.  As  long  as  the  gaff  enters  on  one  side 
and  emerges  on  the  other,  embracing  the  backbone  of  the 
fish  in  its  course,  whether  the  two  wounds  are  mathemati- 
cally equidistant  from  the  upper  or  lower  margin  of  the 
fish,  would  seem  quite  immaterial.  If  the  gaff  is  sufiici- 
ently  wide  across  the  bend,  there  is  not  the  slightest  need 
to  set  the  point  outward.  It  serves  no  useful  purpose, 
while  it  does  make  the  blow  oblique,  rather  than  direct 
as  it  should  be. 

Again:  for  the  same  reason  that  you  would  not  use  a 
bright-scarlet  landing-net  for  trout,  do  not  use  a  polished 
or  nickel-plated  gaff.  The  best  course  is  first  to  rust  the 
steel  thoroughly  with  vinegar  and  salt,  then  to  dry  it  and 
smear  it  well  with  oil.  After  allowing  the  oil  to  soften 
the  rust  for  twenty-four  hours,  rub  it  as  clean  as  possible 
with  a  rag.  This  gives  the  steel  the  brown  color  of  a 
gun-barrel,  which  is  as  good  a  color  as  it  can  have. 

Nothing  makes  a  better  gaff  than  a  tooth  from  a  spring- 
toothed  horse-rake.     The  taper  and  size  of  the  wire  are 


74  The  American  Salmon-fisherman. 

just  about  right  for  the  purpose,  and  if  carefully  bent 
and  carefully  tempered  to  a  spring-temper  afterward,  it 
will  quite  "  fill  the  bill."  They  may  be  had  from  almost 
any  manufacturer  of  agricultural  implements. 

Perhaps  the  aspiring  trout-fisherman — for  whose  bene- 
fit, and  not  for  that  of  the  experienced  salmon-angler,  I 
am  writing — will  better  understand  the  essential  features 
of  the  gaff,  if  what  has  already  been  said  be  supplemented 
with  some  account  of  its  use. 

The  gaff  may  be  used  from  a  canoe  or  from  the  bank. 
After  the  enterprise  of  a  salmon  has  become  somewhat 
subdued  by  the  violence  and  duration  of  its  efforts  to 
escape,  if  it  finds  itself  in  deep  quiet  water  it  seems  to 
become  somewhat  reassured.  It  may  then  permit  the 
angler  to  recover  line  until  the  canoe  is  almost  over  it, 
seeming  at  times  almost  to  regard  the  shadow  of  the 
canoe  as  a  harbor  of  refuge.  The  angler  of  course  en- 
deavors to  keep  the  fish  as  near  the  surface  as  possible. 
Thus  a  compromise  may  result,  the  salmon  being  not  in- 
deed on  the  surface,  but  yet  not  so  deep  but  that  it  may 
be  seen.  Should  it  then  afford  the  opportunity,  the  gaf- 
fer may  quietly  sink  his  gaff  under  the  fish,  and  with  a 
quick  upward  movement  impale  it  and  drag  it  into  the 
canoe.  If  the  operation  is  so  sudden  and  unexpected  that 
the  salmon  cannot  protest  while  in  the  w^ater,  it  loses  no 
instant  of  time  after  it  has  touched  the  bottom  of  the 
canoe.  It  is  necessarily  deposited  in  the  somewhat  re- 
stricted interval  across  which  the  gaffer  and  angler  face 
one*  another.  The  salmon,  apparently  galvanized  into 
preternatural  activity,  performs  like  a  cat  on  a  stove. 
The  gaffer  hangs  to  his  gaff,  still  imbedded  in  the  salmon, 
with   one   hand,  while  with   the  other  he  endeavors  to 


Outfit—The  Gaff,  .  75 

secure  a  hold  on  the  slippery  fish  by  which  he  can  suffi- 
ciently control  its  movements  to  drop  the  gaff  and  resort 
to  the  club;  the  blood  flies  in  every  direction  from  the 
wounds  of  the  gaff,  and  generally  there  is  what  the  vul- 
gar might  call  "  a  regular  circus."  If  it  is  a  fair-sized 
fish,  say  of  twenty  pounds  or  over,  this  performance  will 
last  long  after  the  angler  wishes  it  were  finished.  It  is  a 
brutal  piece  of  business,  and  after  it  is  done  and  peace 
reigns  once  more,  that  end  of  the  canoe  looks  like  a 
slaughter-house. 

If  my  humanity  were  a  little  greater  or  my  cupidity  a 
little  less,  I  would  never  permit  a  fish  of  any  size  to  be 
gaffed  into  a  canoe.  As  it  is,  though  I  vow  I  never  will, 
still  when  the  moment  comes  when  resolve  should  pass 
into  action,  since  confession  is  good  for  the  soul,  I  may 
confess  that  I  prove  recreant  to  my  vow. 

Not  only  is  the  proceeding  more  in  keeping  with  a 
Spanish  bull -fight  than  the  gentle  spirit  of  angling,  but 
it  is  dangerous  as  well — mainly  dangerous  in  that  unless 
everything  goes  just  right  the  fish  will  be  lost,  but  still 
somewhat  dangerous  in  that  during  the  struggle  the  canoe 
may  decline  to  be  a  party  thereto,  and  discard  its  occu- 
pants into  the  water.  Salmon-streams  are  uncommonly 
thin  and  wet,  and  he  who  plunges  therein  will  find  no 
just  cause  to  growl  at  his  bath  because  it  is  overheated. 

The  Mic-mac  type  of  birch-bark  canoe — that  used  on 
many  salmon-streams — is  a  three-man  canoe,  in  which  one 
with  a  fair  knack  of  balance  can  readily  cast  standing,  as 
indeed  many  do.  But  it  is  no  place  for  a  Greco-Roman 
wrestling-match. 

It  is  quite  aggravating  to  be  spilled  out  of  any  form  of 
boat;  but  to  so  part  company  with  a  "birch,"  as  it  is 


76  Tlie  American  Salmon-fisherman. 

usually  called  "  for  short,"  is  peculiarly  so.  A  boat  under 
such  circumstances  usually  remains  bottom  up,  thus  seem- 
ing to  share  the  misfortune  of  the  shipwreck,  and  to 
sympathize  with  its  unhappy  passengers.  Not  so  a  birch. 
Without  a  premonitory  symptom  of  impatience,  and 
quicker  than  a  wink,  it  will  vanish  beneath  its  occupant 
and  leave  him  struggling  in  the  water.  And  when  he 
rises  to  the  surface  and  gives  his  first  snort  of  surprise  and 
disgust,  there  it  will  stand  just  about  where  it  was  left, 
floating  as  jauntily  as  a  bubble,  and  with  hardly  a  teacup- 
ful  of  water  in  it — seeming  to  say  as  plainly  as  though 
its  attitude  were  embodied  in  speech,  "  What  !  you  don't 
mean  to  say  that  that  was  my  fault,  do  you  ?" 

With  a  boat,  too,  you  can,  ordinarily  at  least,  find  a 
dry  spot  on  its  bottom — perhaps  even  right  it  and  climb 
in.  But  a  birch,  when  it  has  once  spilled  its  cargo,  passes 
from  the  placid  demureness  of  a  cat  into  the  friskiness  of 
a  kitten.  Touch  it,  and  it  squirms  and  sidles  ofi^  like  a 
country-girl  at  a  merry-making  when  some  gallant  tries 
to  put  his  arm  around  her  waist.  It  does  not  squeal,  it  is 
true;  but  it  acts  just  as  skittishly  as  if  it  did.  Of  all  the 
floating  constructions  of  man,  to  none  is  the  application 
of  the  feminine  personal  pronoun  more  appropriate. 

But  after  all  a  birch  has  its  good  points,  and  a  good 
many  of  them;  and,  take  it  all  in  all,  is  to  be  preferred  for 
salmon-fishing  to  any  other  form  of  boat  I  have  ever  seen. 
It  is  a  little  ticklish  about  the  upper  part  of  the  ribs.  But 
keep  your  hands  off  that  part,  observe  due  decorum,  and 
take  no  liberties,  and  it  will  carry  you  as  safely  as  a  rock- 
ing-chair. It  can  be  handled  by  two  men  like  a  top,  and 
will  back  and  fill,  and  turn  and  twist  to  face  the  vagaries 
of  a  fighting  salmon,  as  though  endowed  with  volition 


Outfit— The  Gaff,  77 

and  as  much  interested  in  the  result  of  the  contest  as  the 
angler  himself.  Moreover,  it  is  as  tight  as  a  bottle;  or  if 
not,  can  be  made  so  with  a  pitch-plaster  with  certainty 
and  dispatch. 

As  a  small  boy  can  always  find  room  for  just  one  more 
piece  of  pie,  so  a  salmon  can  always  summon  energy  for 
another  run.  It  is  really  wonderful  what  reserved  powers 
an  apparently  spent  fish  will  sometimes  evince,  when 
stimulated  by  the  approach  of  the  gafi^,  or  by  a  maladroit 
application  of  its  point  to  his  ribs.  When  the  gaffer  lays 
aside  his  paddle  for  the  gaff,  half  the  adaptability  of  the 
canoe  is  gone,  since  it  is  controlled  by  his  assistant  alone. 
Should  he  then  miss  his  stroke  from  any  cause  and  the 
fish  start  for  the  next  county  by  diving  under  the  canoe, 
as  it  is  prone  to  do,  it  is  apt  to  be  a  case  of  good-by. 

For  these  reasons  it  is  advisable  to  gaff  from  the  bank 
when  possible.  As  any  ordinarily  well-conducted  river 
has  usually  an  abundance  of  that  article  on  either  side,  it 
might  seem  that  this  was  everywhere  possible.  By  no 
means.  Not  every  bank  will  serve  the  purpose.  It  must 
be  one  sufficiently  unobstructed  to  permit  the  angler  to 
follow  the  fish  down  stream  in  case  of  necessity — and  it 
usually  is  necessary.  The  water  near  the  shore  must  not 
be  too  deep,  nor  must  the  current  be  rapid,  nor,  again, 
must  it  be  too  shallow  to  float  the  fish.  But,  above  all 
things,  it  must  be  reasonably  free  from  that  Mte  noire 
of  the  angler — snags  and  similar  obstructions  which  can 
foul  the  line  or  leader.  Such  landing-places  as  will  serve, 
therefore,  become  perforce  well  known  on  every  river. 
They  may  be  a  quarter,  a  half,  or  even  a  mile  or  more  apart. 
They  may  be  on  one  side  of  the  river  or  on  the  other,  or 
alternate  in  any  conceivable  order. 


78  The  American  Salmon-fisherman. 

When  the  fish  has  been  brought  to  the  proper  stage  of 
docility,  the  next  problem  is  to  work  it  down  to  one  of 
these  landing-places.  It  cannot  be  worked  up  stream  by 
any  possibility,  unless  it  contributes  thereto  by  its  own 
folly.  A  landing-place  once  passed,  though  but  by 
twenty-five  feet,  is  passed  for  good,  as  far  as  that  fish  is 
concerned.  Having  at  length  happily  arrived  at  a  suit- 
able place,  the  canoe  is  brought  to  the  bank,  and  all  dis- 
embark. Then  the  angler  tries  to  coax  the  fish  within 
reach.  He  governs  the  amount  of  the  strain  with  the 
most  careful  discrimination,  yielding  to  the  slightest  ex- 
cess, and  taking  line  upon  its  slightest  diminution.  It  is 
a  long,  and  oftentimes  a  laborious  process,  every  phase  of 
w^hich  the  angler  must  watch  with  unflagging  attention, 
and  with  all  his  wits  about  him,  if  ultimate  success  is  to 
crown  his  efforts.  As  the  fish  swings  in  to  the  bank,  the 
gaffer  places  himself  opposite,  and  a  little  below  when; 
he  expects  it  will  arrive,  motionless  as  though  cast  in 
bronze.  The  assistant  skips  round  to  find  a  suitable 
stone.  At  last  the  fish  is  near  enough.  The  gaffer 
quietly  reaches  over  its  back  till  the  point  of  the  gaff  is 
opposite  its  more  distant  side  in  the  vicinity  of  the  back 
fin,  and  then  suddenly  retracts  the  gaff,  driving  it 
through  the  fish  belov/  the  backbone,  and  without  ar- 
resting the  motion,  drags  it  on  to  the  shore.  The  assist- 
ant then  plies  the  stone,  and  the  tragedy  is  over. 

The  foregoing  is  merely  intended  to  give  an  idea  of 
the  process,  not  to  furnish  specific  directions  for  its  ac- 
complishment. Until  long  after  the  angler  is  beyond  the 
aid  of  printed  instructions,  he  would  do  well  to  leave  this 
delicate  operation  to  his  skilled  attendant. 


Outfit —  Clothing,  79 


CLOTHING. 

This  is  a  most  important  part  of  our  outfit.  The 
American  must  remember  that  the  salmon-rivers  of  the 
Atlantic  seaboard  lie  in  the  direction  of  the  North  Pole. 
While  in  the  direct  rays  of  the  sun  it  may  be  even  shirt- 
sleeve weather;  in  the  shade,  and  especially  in  the  morn- 
ing and  evening,  an  overcoat  will  not  be  oppressive.  The 
angler,  therefore,  should  clothe  himself  like  an  onion,  and 
be  prepared  to  peel  layer  after  layer  as  the  day  ad- 
vances, and  resume  them  in  due  order  as  the  day  de- 
clines. Especially  is  this  true  when  the  fishing  is  from  a 
boat.  A  boat  to  him  who  takes  no  part  in  its  manage- 
ment, is  about  twenty-five  degrees  colder  than  any  other 
known  place  in  the  same  latitude.  Good  heavy  winter 
underclothes,  a  flannel  shirt,  and  winter  trousers  should 
form  the  foundation,  and  upon  these  should  be  reared  such 
a  superstructure  of  cardigan- jackets,  dog-skin  coats,  and 
overcoats,  as  the  exigencies  of  the  occasion  may  require. 

Be  comfortable,  and  take  whatever  it  is  thought  will 
conduce  to  this  end.  As  long  as  your  own  back  is  not  of 
necessity  the  means  of  transportation,  in  the  matter  of 
clothing,  at  all  events,  take  all  that  you  may  need. 
Roughing  it  is  all  very  nice  for  the  young  and  inexperi- 
enced to  talk  of  when  cushioned  in  an  easy-chair  before 
a  cheerful  fire;  but  after  a  somewhat  extended  personal 
experience  on  my  own  account,  and  a  wide  observation  of 
others,  I  have  yet  to  see  the  person  whose  appetite  was 
not  more  than  satiated  at  the  very  first  taste  of  the  real 
article.  A  salmon-fishing  expedition  should  be  for  pleas- 
ure, not  penance. 

A  cheap  felt-hat  of  a  gray  color  should  protect  the 


80  The  American  Salmon-fisherman. 

head.  It  should  be  thick  enough  to  laugh  at  the  rain, 
wide-brimmed  that  it  may  drip  elsewhere  than  down  the 
back  of  its  wearer's  neck,  and  soft  so  that  he  may  adjust 
it  at  any  angle  that  the  driving  storm  or  the  rays  of  the 
sun  may  require.  Stiff  hats  are  a  nuisance.  If  such  that 
they  may  be  worn  without  embarrassment  in  every-day 
life  or  when  travelling,  they  are  ill  adapted  for  fishing; 
while  if  adapted  for  fishing,  he  would  indeed  be  a  bold 
♦  man  who  would  be  willing  to  wear  one  except  when  fish- 
ing. They  are  most  inconvenient  to  pack  in  a  trunk 
both  from  their  size  and  shape,  and  though  brand-new 
when  they  enter,  will  look  when  they  emerge  as  if  they 
had  been  through  a  free  fight. 

A  good  rubber-coat  is  a  necessity.  The  rubber-coat  is 
often  misunderstood,  and  therefore  maligned.  We  have 
all  seen  the  moisture  condense  from  the  atmosphere  on 
the  outside  of  an  ice-pitcher.  The  same  process  takes 
place  inside  a  rubber-coat.  The  rain  cools  the  coat,  and 
condenses  the  insensible  perspiration  from  the  body  upon 
its  interior.  Thus  a  coat  is  abused  as  leaky  which  is 
really  as  tight  as  the  ice-pitcher  itself.  The  best  rubber- 
coat  ever  made  will  show  a  wet  inside  under  these  cir- 
cumstances. Coats  of  this  description  may,  however, 
now  be  had  in  which  this  annoyance  is  met  with  either 
in  a  diminished  degree,  or  not  at  all.  This  is  accom- 
plished by  perforating  the  shoulders  and  upi^er  part  of 
the  arms,  and  providing  the  coat  with  a  short  cape  to 
exclude  the  water  from  the  openings.  The  air  is  then 
no  longer  confined  within  the  coat,  the  motion  of  the 
anns  and  body,  theoretically  at  least,  keeping  up  a  con- 
stant circulation,  and  expelling  the  warm  air  before  its 
moisture  has  time  to  condense. 


Outfit — Clothing,  81 

Some  means  must  also  be  provided  to  protect  the  legs 
if  the  fishing  is  from  a  boat.  A  rubber-petticoat,  reach- 
ing to  within  four  or  five  inches  of  the  ground,  is  alto- 
gether the  best  device  for  this  purpose,  since  it  prevents 
the  wearer  from  discomfort  should  a  puddle  form  on  his 
seat,  as  it  is  apt  to  do,  and  also  because  it  is  well  venti- 
lated, and  easy  to  assume  and  discard.  The  rubber-coat 
should  then  be  short.  Still  rubber  pantaloons,  or  even  a 
rubber-blanket,  will  answer  very  well.  But  some  such  pro- 
tection is  necessary,  for  no  salmon-fisherman  remains  in- 
doors because  of  rain  when  the  fish  may  rise.  Rubber- 
boots,  which  may  well  be  of  the  ventilated  variety,  are 
also  advisable.  When  venturing  into  the  rain,  if  the 
sleeves  of  the  rubber-coat  are  not  provided  with  straps 
for  the  purpose, — as  they  should  be, — fold  each  sleeve 
tight  around  the  wrist,  and  tie  them  thus  with  a  piece 
of  twine.  A  rain-gauge,  even  though  formed  of  the  sleeve 
of  a  rubber-coat,  is  superfluous  in  salmon-fishing. 

If  wading  is  necessary,  mackintosh-waders  coming  well 
up  under  the  arms  are  advisable.  The  water  will  be 
found  too  cold  to  wade  day  after  day  with  comfort  or 
impunity,  unless  so  protected.  Those  ending  in  stocking- 
feet  are  the  best.  With  this  caution,  every  trout-fisher- 
man will  understand  this  matter  without  further  dilation. 

Every  one  has  heard  of  the  black-fly.  Those  who  have 
not  had  the  pleasure  of  its  personal  acquaintance  and  who 
judge  solely  from  the  fame  of  its  exploits,  imagine  some- 
thing about  the  size  of  a  turkey-buzzard,  and  armed  with  a 
proboscis  like  the  sword  of  a  Roman  gladiator.  This  is  a 
mistake.  It  is  a  most  insignificant-looking  little  gentle- 
man, considerably  less  than  a  quarter  of  an  inch  long.  But 
6 


83  The  American  Salmon-fisherman. 

if  its  appearance  does  not  inspire  respect,  its  action  speed- 
ily will.  It  has  a  cousin,  a  most  diminutive  creatare, 
hardly  larger  than  the  head  of  a  pin,  and  so  colorless  as 
to  be  almost  invisible.  It  also  is  a  hero,  and  that  of  no 
mean  sort.  To  his  honor  the  mosquito  none  of  us  need 
an  introduction.  He  stands  on  no  ceremony,  introducing 
himself  on  sight,  oblivious  to  insult  and  rebuff. 

Were  it  not  for  these  drawbacks,  salmon-fishing  would 
be  altogether  too  good  fun  for  mere  mortals.  Thev  are 
to  be  found  in  greater  or  less  quantity  on  every  salmon- 
river  during  the  fishing  season — almost  absent  where  the 
banks  are  settled  and  cleared,  becoming  more  and  more 
abundant  as  the  wilderness  is  penetrated. 

The  black-fly  performs  by  daylight  alone.  Not  until 
the  sun  is  well  up  does  he  venture  out  on  his  daily  avoca- 
tions, and  before  the  cool  of  the  evening  he  returns  home 
again  in  a  most  virtuous  fashion. 

His  little  cousin,  on  the  other  hand,  has  its  business- 
hours  in  the  early  morning  and  the  gloom  of  the  twilight, 
though  if  the  day  be  warm,  damp,  and  gloomy — "  muggy" 
weather  in  short, — he  may  be  on  hand  all  day  long.  It 
shuns  the  bright  sun,  for  its  deeds  are  deeds  of  darkness. 

Both  abominate  the  wind  and  vanish  before  it,  but  their 
weather-eye  is  always  open,  and  no  lull,  however  brief,  is 
allowed  to  pass  unimproved. 

Should  an  unprepared  unfortunate  chance  upon  them 
when  in  force,  though  he  have  the  hide  of  a  rhinoceros, 
and  the  enthusiasm  of  Father  Walton  himself  raised  to 
the  twenty-fourth  power,  neither  will  avail  him  anything. 
He  will  be  subject  to  attacks  so  pertinacious  and  unen- 
durable, that  the  necessity  of  self-preservation  will  speedi- 
ly banish  all  thought  of  fishing. 


Outfit — Clothing,  88 

The  black-fly  views  its  victim  with  an  eye  which  shows 
a  thorough  knowledge  of  its  business,  and  selects  his 
tender  points  with  the  very  nicest  discrimination.  Be- 
hind the  ears,  upon  the  eyelids,  and  on  the  forehead  are 
its  favorite  feeding-grounds,  and  for  the  possession  of 
these  it  will  do  and  dare  anything. 

The  little  fellow  is  more  miscellaneous  in  its  views, 
but  it  is  by  no  means  the  more  lovable  on  that  account. 

Both  bear  down  on  their  prey  in  numbers  like  the 
hordes  of  Ghengis  Khan — as  the  sands  of  the  sea-shore  in 
multitude.  The  slaughter  of  a  few  thousand  more  or  less, 
if  a  matter  of  the  least  moment,  is  but  an  occasion  for 
self -congratulation  to  the  survivors  in  that  it  gives  them 
a  better  chance.  Let  no  man  in  the  vicious  pride  of  his 
youth  and  strength  fancy  that  he  can  defy  their  attack, 
for  they  will  rout  him  at  last,  horse,  foot,  and  artillery, 
just  as  surely  as  they  meet  him.  A  thin  skirmish-line 
he  may  be  able  to  encounter  though  with  discomfort,  but 
a  serious  attack  in  force  is  beyond  human  endurance. 

It  is  true  different  people  suffer  in  different  degrees. 
On  some  the  black-fly  will  bring  blood  at  every  prod;  on 
some  each  bite  raises  a  swelling  like  a  miniature  volcano; 
others  experience  an  intolerable  itching;  while  others  suf- 
fer all  these,  or  any  part  of  them,  combined. 

The  bite  of  the  little  fellow  is  more  uniform  in  result. 
It  is  followed  by  a  burning  itch,  which  makes  one  wish 
he  could  stretch  his  skin  out  on  some  barn-door,  and  go 
for  it  with  a  curry-comb. 

Therefore,  if  the  answer  to  the  interrogatories  set  forth 
in  Chapter  I.  discloses  that  these  pests  are  to  be  met 
with,  though  neither  abundant  nor  very  troublesome, 
prepare  for  the  very  worst.     You  may  be  sure  their  prev- 


84  The  American  Salmon- fisher  man. 

alence  will  not  be  exaggerated  "  the  fortieth  part  of  one 
poor  scruple;"  and  if  disappointed,  and  your  precautions 
are  thrown  away,  it  is  certainly  a  most  agreeable  disap- 
pointment, over  which  few  tears  need  be  shed. 

Head-nets,  to  go  over  the  hat  and  tuck  in  under  the 
shirt-collar,  are  to  me  almost  as  intolerable  as  the  insects 
themselves.  Everything  looks  blurred,  there  is  an  intol- 
erable sense  of  suffocation,  and  smoking  is  impossible. 
The  following  will  be  found  equally  efficient,  and  de- 
cidedly more  agreeable: 

Sew  around  the  lining  on  the  inside  of  the  hat,  a  curtain 
of  cotton  or  linen  cloth  about  ten  or  twelve  inches  deep. 
Cut  a  hole  in  the  front  of  the  bottomless  sack  thus  formed, 
so  that  the  face  will  be  exposed  from  the  eyebrow  to  the 
chin.  Put  on  the  hat,  adjust  the  curtain  so  that  all  of  the 
head  but  the  face  is  covered,  tuck  the  lower  edge  of  the 
curtain  well  down  under  the  shirt  all  around  the  neck, 
and  tie  a  handkerchief  around  the  shirt-collar.  The 
flanks  and  rear  are  now  protected,  and  the  front  alone  is 
exposed.  Or,  should  this  have  been  neglected,  a  defence 
may  be  improvised  in  the  following  manner,  though  it  is 
neither  as  perfect  a  protection  nor  as  comfortable  to  the 
wearer:  Hold  up  a  large  handkerchief  by  the  corners,  so 
that  the  upper  edge  is  horizontal.  Knot  the  corners 
which  are  held  together.  Place  the  bag  so  formed  upon 
the  head  so  that  the  knots  come  over  the  forehead.  Put 
on  the  hat,  tuck  the  hanging  part  under  the  shirt,  and  tie 
around  the  shirt-collar  as  before. 

For  the  hands,  provide  a  pair  of  old  kid-gloves  two  or 
three  sizes  too  large,  and  cut  off  the  fingers.  Sew  linen 
gauntlets  to  these  reaching  well  up  toward  the  elbow,  the 
margin  of  each  of  which  is  provided  with  an  elastic  cord 


Outfit — Clothing.  85 

short  enough  to  pucker  the  mouth  well  together.  Pull 
on  these  gloves,  and  draw  the  gauntlets  well  up  over  the 
coat-sleeve.  Be  sure  that  no  open  place — such  as  that 
usual  on  the  lower  part  of  the  palm  of  a  kid-glove — is 
left.  The  cloth  must  cover  every  orifice,  or  the  pests  will 
enter  the  opening  in  a  procession,  and  roam  at  pleasure, 
wreaking  their  wicked  will  upon  their  victim,  utterly  un- 
dismayed by  his  array  of  armor.  Kid-gloves  are  advised 
because  they  are  sting-proof.  If  the  fingers  are  cut  off 
no  inconvenience  in  using  the  hands  will  be  experienced. 
They  need  not  become  wet,  since  all  these  creatures  know 
enough  to  go  in  when  it  rains.  But  the  finger-tips  and 
the  face  remain  to  be  protected. 

The  soothing  pipe  will  here  add  another  to  the  long 
list  of  blessings  which  it  bestows  on  mankind.  But  it 
merits  and  should  receive  its  stated  periods  of  repose. 
We  should  not  crowd  a  really  good  thing  too  hard. 

Therefore  cause  this  lotion  to  be  prepared,  recom- 
mended to  me  as  really  sovereign  by  one  who  had  annu- 
ally faced  the  foe  on  the  salmon-rivers  of  Canada  for 
nearly  forty  years: 

Olive-oil i  pint. 

Creosote 1  ounce. 

Pennyroyal 1  ounce. 

Camphor 1  ounce. 

Dissolve  the  camphor  in  alcohol,  and  mix. 

This  will  be  sufticient  in  quantity  for  a  party  of  four. 
The  bottle  which  contains  it  may  find  place  in  the  grand 
depot  of  supplies.  For  daily  use  in  the  field,  each  should 
be  provided  with  an  oval  ounce-bottleful,  to  be  carried 
in  the  pocket  at  all  times,  ready  for  any  and  every  emer- 


86  The  American  Salmon-fisherman, 

• 
gency.  When  exposed  to  attack,  the  cork  is  removed 
from  time  to  time,  and  a  little  of  the  contents  of  the  bot- 
tle is  smeared  on  the  face  with  the  fingers.  The  face 
need  not  be  covered.  A  little  here  and  there  will  suflSce. 
Indeed,  if  the  flies  are  not  very  numerous  and  aggressive, 
it  will  be  enough  to  anoint  the  cloth  near  the  face. 
Though  not  what  a  particular  man  would  select  as  a 
perfume,  still  it  is  not  disagreeable — certainly  not  when 
compared  with  fly-bites.  It  is  a  cleanly  fluid,  does  not 
discolor  or  disorder  the  skin,  and  is  readily  removable 
by  the  ordinary  process  of  washing. 

The  generic  name  for  mixtures  of  this  kind — at  least 
throughout  the  wilderness  which  intervenes  between  the 
settlements  of  Maine  and  Canada — is  "  bug-juice."  Hu- 
man life  is  thought  to  be  too  short  by  the  ranger  of  the 
wild-woods,  and  the  articulations  of  his  jaws  are  too  in- 
flexible for  the  terms  "  insect-repellant,"  "  culexif uge," 
and  the  many  other  appellations  in  vogue  in  the  settle- 
ments. 

Many  stories,  duly  equipped  with  a  moral,  come  to  us 
from  a  life  destined  soon  to  become  historical  only. 

Many  of  my  readers  have  perhai)S  heard  the  following: 

A  Western  ranger,  festooned  with  pistols  and  bowie- 
knives  like  an  Algerine  corsair, — at  least  like  the  Alge- 
rine  corsair  of  the  picture-books, — when  asked  what  in 

he  wanted  to  ballast  himself  that  way  for  with  such 

a  lot  of  old  iron,  replied  that  though  a  nuisance  to  carry, 
and  though  he  wanted  them  but  seldom,  yet  "  when  he 
did  want  them  he  wanted  them  mighty  bad  ;  that  it  was 
better  tcr  be  fixed." 

We  may  wifeh  profit  apply  this  moral  to  a  mosquito- 


Outfit —  Clothing.  87 

net.  Mosquitoes  are  more  or  less  abundant  on  every 
salmon-river.  Though  primarily  a  night-bird,  they  are 
ready  for  business  at  almost  any  time,  giving  themselves 
but  little  ground  for  self-reproach  because  of  neglected 
opportunities.  When  the  sun  shines  warm  and  bright, 
or  when  the  nights  are  clear  and  cold,  they  retire  into 
privacy  to  think  over  their  sins.  At  all  other  times  they 
go  about  like  a  roaring  lion,  seeking  whom  they  may  de- 
vour. 

During  the  day-time  the  angler  who  conforms  his  prac- 
tice to  the  preceding  precepts  may  laugh  at  them.  But 
to  sit  up  all  night  to  apply  "bug-juice"  at  stated  inter- 
vals, or  to  spend  the  hours  which  should  be  devoted  to 
repose  either  in  active  hostilities  or  in  weeping  amid  the 
fumes  of  a  smudge,  will  be  found  very  inconvenient — far 
more  so  than  to  carry  the  insignificant  bulk  and  weight 
of  an  unnecessary  mosquito-net.  It  may  not  be  needed, 
but  if  wanted  it  will  be  "wanted  mighty  bad."  It  is 
"  better  to  be  fixed." 

Select  a  fabric  of  the  finest  mesh,  and  have  it  made  up 
as  follows.  Do  not  rely  on  a  mere  sheet.  The  mosquito 
of  the  wilderness  is  a  persevering  rascal,  by  no  means 
easily  discouraged.  When  its  path  is  barred,  it  will 
prospect  for  a  passage  all  the  night  long  with  the  perse- 
verance of  a  gold-hunter.  And  should  it  find  entrance, 
it  will  raise  a  hullabaloo  of  triumph  that  will  banish  sleep 
as  effectually  as  would  a  ducking  in  a  mill-pond. 

The  mosquito-net  should  be  fashioned  on  the  model  of  a 
box  with  the  bottom  up.  It  should  be  two  feet  wide,  and 
anywhere  from  three  to  six  feet  long.  The  sides  should 
be  three  to  four  feet  deep.  Where  the  sides  join  that 
part  which  corresponds  to  the  bottom  of  the  typical  box, 


88  The  American  Salmon-fisherman. 

the  seam  should  be  reinforced  by  an  inch-wide  tape  run- 
ning entirely  around  the  structure.  At  each  of  the  four 
corners  a  brass  ring  should  be  securely  sewn  to  the  tape, 
and  the  net  is  suspended  by  strings  fastened  to  these 
rings.  The  line  of  the  angler  w^ll  indeed  have  fallen  in 
unpleasant  places  if  he  cannot  at  least  find  four  sticks  to 
which  these  strings  may  be  attached. 

This  insect  problem  is  a  serious  one.  Sooner  or  later 
it  will  be  forced  on  the  attention  of  the  salmon-angler. 
If  he  prepares  for  it  at  home,  he  may  face  the  issue  with- 
out apprehension,  and  will  experience  little  or  no  discom- 
fort. If  he  neglects  to  do  so,  he  will  pay  dearly  for  his 
temerity.  There  are,  it  is  true,  some  wide  rivers,  the 
banks  of  which  above  tide-water  are  well  cleared  and 
cultivated,  where  this  annoyance  is  comparatively  insig- 
nificant, and  where  no  precaution  is  required.  But,  like 
the  rivers  of  Paradise,  they  are  few  in  number.  Comfort 
in  life  is  made  up  of  little  things.  We  can  all  bear  a 
sudden  pang  if  it  be  but  momentary,  with  comparative 
equanimity.  But  relentless  persecution,  though  no  single 
moment  in  itself  be  so  very  severe,  is  quite  another  mat- 
ter. No  man  can  fight  flies,  and  fight  salmon  at  the  same 
time.  Grave  as  the  situation  may  be  to  him  who  is  un- 
prepared, there  is  nothing  in  the  presence  of  flies  in  any 
possible  abundance  to  deter  the  angler  from  salmon-fish- 
ing. The  fear  of  hunger  might  also,  and  as  well,  cause 
him  to  linger  at  his  own  fireside.  Either  may  be  pro- 
vided against,  and,  timely  precaution  having  been  taken, 
he  may  go  on  his  way  fearing  nothing  from  either. 


Flies  and  Hooks. 


89 


CHAPTER   V. 

FLIES   AND   HOOKS. 
FLIES. 

He  who  seeks  to  inform  himself  from  books  which  are 
the  best  flies  for  salmon-fishing,  will  hardly  fail  to  find 
food  for  serious  thought  on  the  value  of  human  testimony. 

He  will  encounter  almost  as  many  opinions  as  there  are 
books  treating  on  the  subject,  many  of  them  as  utterly 
irreconcilable  one  with  another  as  a  tom-cat  and  a  terrier. 

Perhaps  the  first  advises  a  different  fly  for  every  change 
of  water,  sky,  or  locality.  No  sooner  has  the  reader 
reconciled  himself  to  buying  at  least  a  quart  of  flies,  than 
he  finds  another  insisting  that  three  varieties  are  all-sufli- 
cient  under  all  circumstances  and  conditions.  He  is  natu- 
rally, if  unprepared,  somewhat  astonished.  The  question 
seems  to  lie  not  within  the  realm  of  metaphysics,  in  which 
difference  of  opinion  is  almost  a  matter  of  course,  but  to  re- 
late to  mere  records  of,  and  deductions  from,  actual  physi- 
cal experiment.  He  seeks  corroborative  testimony,  and 
merely  sinks  deeper  in  the  mire  of  uncertainty.  He  finds 
some  advocating  gaudy  flies,  and  others  repudiating  all 
but  those  of  sombre  hue  ;  some  insisting  on  the  use  of 
light  and  bright  flies  in  dark  weather  and  heavy  water, 
and  others  claiming  that  this  practice  is  all  wrong  and 
that  the  true  method  is  exactly  the  reverse,  and  so  on. 

What  is  the  matter  ?     These  gentlemen  are  all  men  of 


90  The  American  Salmon-fisherman. 

experience,  and  are  speaking  from  experience,  yet  though 
unquestionably  truthful,  they  are  at  complete  variance 
with  one  another. 

That  there  is  reason  for  it  all,  I  cannot  doubt.  To  at- 
tribute the  conduct  of  the  salmon  in  this  respect  to  mere 
caprice  is  not  satisfactory  to  my  mind.  Caprice  is  an 
individual  trait.  A  characteristic  common  to  an  entire 
species  must  rest  on  some  more  substantial  basis.  Ca- 
price, too,  is  a  characteristic  of  the  higher,  not  of  the 
lower  orders  of  life.  Man  builds  in  every  conceivable 
way,  but  every  bee  makes  every  cell  hexagonal. 

The  mental  range  of  a  fish  is  of  the  most  limited  de- 
scription. If  more  than  four  impulses — physical  com- 
fort, self-preservation,  hunger,  and  the  desire  to  repro- 
duce— govern  their  conduct,  I  have  yet  to  hear  it  sug- 
gested. Under  precisely  similar  circumstances  and  con- 
ditions, one  man  may  stay  at  home  and  another  go  a-fish- 
ing.  But  when  we  descend  the  scale  of  the  animal  king- 
dom to  the  low  nervous  development  and  narrow  life  of 
a  fish,  mental  action  of  so  high  an  order  and  so  individual 
as  caprice  seems  to  me  out  of  the  question.  Under  pre- 
cisely similar  circumstances  and  conditions,!  believe  every 
fish  of  a  given  kind  will  act  in  precisely  the  same  way; 
and  that  this  does  not  always  appear  to  us  to  be  the  case, 
is  due,  I  am  decidedly  inclined  to  believe,  rather  to  our 
own  ignorance  than  to  the  idiosyncrasy  of  the  fish. 

Not  only  do  I  believe  that  there  are  reasons  for  the 
varying  conduct  which  has  given  rise  to  these  discrepant 
opinions  in  regard  to  the  selection  of  flies  for  salmon- 
fishing,  but  1  believe  that  a  knowledge  of  these  reasons 
is  by  no  means  hopeless. 

One  thing,  however,  seems  certain.     Abstract  deduc- 


Flies  and  Hooks.  91 

tion  froni  mere  surmise  as  a  basis,  is  not  the  way  to  arrive 
at  that  result.  By  abandoning  this  method  of  investiga- 
tion for  that  of  direct  physical  experiment,  man  has  ac- 
quired more  sound  knowledge,  and  has  advanced  more  in 
the  last  two  or  three  centuries  than  during  all  the  rest  of 
the  known  history  of  the  race.  By  applying  the  same 
method  to  the  investigation  of  this  problem,  analogy  war- 
rants us  in  hoping  for  a  like  successful  issue. 

The  many  who  regard  this  question  as  having  no  further 
bearing  than  upon  the  degree  of  success  that  some  idle 
angler  may  attain,  will  naturally  think  it  so  trivial  that 
its  serious  study  and  discussion  merit  little  more  than 
ridicule.  This,  it  seems  to  me,  is  the  view  of  but  a  shal- 
low mind,  and  one  oblivious  to  the  teachings  of  the 
past.  It  is  the  ever-increasing  knowledge  of  nature  and 
its  works  which  has  made  this  century  so  preeminent. 
He  who  first  discovered  that  heated  water  gave  forth  an 
elastic  vapor,  or  that  an  electro-magnet  would  attract  an 
armature,  had  little  thought  that  the  application  of  either 
discovery  would  revolutionize  the  intercourse  of  the  world. 
No  man  can  foresee  what  may  follow  from  any  discovery 
in  the  realm  of  nature.  Five  hundred  investigations  may 
be  utterly  barren  of  result  and  so  much  waste  labor,  but 
the  five  hundred  and  first  may  be  indeed  a  prize  which 
will  confer  untold  and  unexpected  benefits  upon  mankind. 
It  is  possible — indeed  probable — that  the  practical  value 
of  this  matter  has  been  correctly  appraised  in  the  begin- 
ning of  this  paragraph.  But  it  may  result  in  discoveries 
which  will  affect  the  fisheries  of  the  world.  The  bare 
possibility  warrants  the  effort. 

Such  experiments  as  my  scanty  leisure  and  opportuni- 
ties have  enabled  me  to  conduct,  I  have  tried  in  the  hope 


92  The  Amemcan  Salmon-fisherman. 

of  throwing  some  light  on  the  question.  They  are  not 
the  best  nor  the  most  conchisive  methods  I  could  devise, 
though  they  are  the  best  and  most  conclusive  methods  my 
limited  time  and  facilities  permitted.  Of  these  experi- 
ments I  propose  to  give  some  account.  Upon  the  facts 
the  reader  may  rely.  On  the  value  of  my  deductions 
from  these  facts  every  one  can  pass  for  himself. 

How  the  fly  really  appears  to  the  salmon  seemed  to  me 
to  lie  at  the  root  of  the  matter,  and  to  ascertain  this,  if 
possible,  I  addressed  my  attention. 

Though  we  cannot  say  with  the  absolute  certainty  of 
mathematical  demonstration  that  a  rock  or  snag  in  a 
river-bed  appears  to  a  salmon  as  what  we  know  and  de- 
scribe as  a  rock  or  snag,  since  we  cannot  change  ourselves 
into  that  fish;  still  the  probabilities  seem  to  me  so  over- 
whelmingly in  its  favor,  that,  in  the  absence  of  direct 
and  incontrovertible  proof  to  the  contrary,  I  see  no  other 
course  open  to  a  reasonable  man  than  to  conclude  that 
such  is  the  fact.  If  this  is  true  as  to  rocks  and  snags,  it 
must  also  be  true  as  to  flies,  since  the  same  principles 
govern  in  both  cases. 

In  my  former  volume,  "  Fly-Rods  and  Fly-Tackle,"  I 
gave  my  reasons  for  this  view  at  some  length,  concluding 
thus  :  "  Light  is  light,  and  by  its  aid  all  animated  beings 
see,  and  in  its  absence  all  alike  are  blind.  The  laws  of 
nature  operate  equally  and  invariably  both  above  and 
below  the  water  ;  and  until  it  is  demonstrated  to  be  other- 
wise, I  cannot  think  that  trout  see  in  any  different  man- 
ner or  by  any  different  means  than  do  we.  There  is 
probably  a  difference  in  degree,  but  I  cannot  believe  in 
kind." 

As  far  as  my  limited  skill  as  an  anatomist  enables  me 


Flies  and  Hooks, 


98 


to  judge,  I  can  detect  no  difference  of  structure  between 
the  eye  of  the  trout  and  that  of  the  salmon,  which  would 
lead  me  to  infer  that  there  is  any  material  difference  in 
their  functions. 

Some  time  ago  I  caused  a  tank  to  be  constructed  for 
the  purpose  of  experimenting  on  the  colors  of  leaders,  the 
results  of  which  investigation  were  given  in  my  former 
volume.  The  reasons  and  experiments  there  given,  which 
led  me  to  de^^se  that  apparatus,  led  me  to  use  it  in  the 
present  instance,  and  to  have  faith  in  the  results  so  ob- 
tained. 


Fig.  7. 

In  the  preceding  figure  A  represents  the  tank,  which 
was  five  feet  long  and  fourteen  and  a  half  inches  deep, 
measured  on  the  inside.  Where  the  bottom  met  the 
ends,  apertures  were  formed  three  inches  high  and  the 
width  of  the  tank,  which  were  closed  with  plate-glass,  B. 
When  the  tank  was  in  use,  the  head  of  the  observer  and 
the  end  of  the  tank,  as  well  as  the  glass  at  the  opposite 
end,  were  so  wrapped  in  black  rubber-cloth  as  to  exclude 
all  light  except  such  as  entered  through  the  surface  of 
the  water. 

To  the  end  of  a  salmon-rod  tip  a  piece  of  copper  wire, 


94  The  American  Salmon-fisherman, 

in  shape  like  an  inverted  T,  was  secured  by  a  freely- 
movable  joint.  To  the  cross-piece  of  the  T  the  flies  to 
be  examined  were  secured  by  pieces  of  very  soft  iron 
wire,  about  the  thickness  of  a  fine  sewing-thread.  The 
joints  at  the  points  where  the  iron  wires  were  secured  to 
the  copper  wire,  as  well  as  where  they  were  attached  to 
the  loop  at  the  heads  of  the  flies,  admitted  of  perfect 
freedom  of  movement.  Six  flies  could  thus  be  simul- 
taneously comparedo 

It  was  thought  best  to  choose  well-known  flies  of  uni- 
form size,  and  by  a  well-known  maker,  for  experiment. 

Flies  tied  by  Forest  of  Kelso,  Scotland,  on  No.  1 
O'Shaughnessy  hooks  were  therefore  selected,  of  the  fol- 
lowing varieties:  Jock  Scott,  Durham  Ranger,  Silver 
Doctor,  Silver  Gray,  Butcher,  Black  Dose,  and  Black 
Fairy.  Subsequently  a  Fiery  Brown  was  added,  neces- 
sarily by  a  different  maker,  as  none  of  the  former  make 
were  procurable.  It  was,  however,  of  the  same  size,  and 
maybe  described  as  follows:  Tail,  topping;  butt,  yellow 
silk;  body,  fiery -brown  pig's-wool;  fiery-brown  hackle  tied 
palmer-fashion;  gold  tinsel;  wings, brown  mallard;  horns, 
yellow  macaw;  head,  black  hurl.  Many  other  varieties 
were  tried  as  well,  but  it  will  be  sufficient  to  confine  our 
attention  to  these. 

My  first  effort  was  addressed  to  determine  whether  the 
salmon  did  mistake  the  fly  for  a  minnow  or  shrimp,  as  by 
many  supposed.  My  belief  that  salmon  take  the  fly  as 
and  for  food,  and  for  no  other  purpose,  has  been  else- 
where stated,  together  with  the  reasons  upon  which  that 
belief  is  based. 

Unfortunately  no  shrimps  were  to  be  had  during  the 
period  when  these  experiments  were   in  progress.     Min- 


Flies  and  Hooks,  95 

nows,  however,  were  obtainable  in  the  form  of  "  white- 
bait," believed  to  be  identical  with  the  English  fish  of 
that  name.  They  were  silvery  in  color,  except  upon  the 
back,  which  was  light  olive-green. 

The  sky  was  entirely  overcast  and  leaden  in  color, 
with  rain.  The  water  in  the  tank  was  in  what  would 
generally  be  considered  first-class  fishing  condition,  i.e., 
very  slightly  turbid,  the  tank  having  just  been  filled.  A 
whitebait  was  selected  of  the  same  length  as  the  wings 
of  the  flies,  and  suspended  in  like  manner  from  the  cop- 
per wire,  with  two  flies  on  each  side.  Throughout  these 
experiments  the  flies  were  manipulated  two  or  three 
inches  below  the  surface  of  the  water,  as  is  customary  in 
salmon-fishing. 

A  marked  apparent  increase  in  the  size  of  both  fish 
and  flies  when  submerged,  over  that  in  air,  was  first  no- 
ticed— an  apparent  increase  of  one  half,  if  not  somewhat 
more. 

At  the  extreme  further  end  of  the  tank  the  white- 
bait was  unmistakably  a  fish,  and  nothing  else.  As  long 
as  the  flies  were  sufficiently  near  the  observer  to  enable 
him  to  distinguish  their  details  of  construction,  they 
bore  not  the  faintest  resemblance  to  the  fish.  But  when 
moved  to  the  farther  end  of  the  tank,  the  bodies  of  all, 
except  those  of  the  Silver  Gray  and  Silver  Doctor,  dis- 
appeared altogether.  Then,  when  those  flies  were  moved 
which  were  provided  with  mixed  wings  of  which  the  crest 
of  the  golden-pheasant  formed  part,  the  wings  seemed 
to  flash  with  reflected  light  in  a  manner  and  with  an  ap- 
pearance not  unlike  that  of  the  fish.  The  effect  was 
extremely  beautiful  to  my  eye.  It  was  like  the  inter- 
mittent flash  of  a  firefly,  lighting  up  the   closely  con- 


96  The  American  Salmon-fisherman. 

tiguous  water  with  a  mellow  glow,  yellower  in  color,  and 
by  no  means  so  pronounced  and  incisive  as  the  flash  of 
the  minnow.  Mere  inspection  would,  I  believe,  fail  to 
enable  any  one  to  determine  the  nature  or  form  of  the 
object;  but  something  was  there  softly  luminous,  and 
endowed  with  motion  and  apparent  life.  Had  it  been 
possible  to  view  the  fish  through  a  thicker  stratum  of 
water  than  that  of  the  five  feet  which  the  tank  contained, 
I  could  not  question  that  as  its  form  became  more  and 
more  obscure,  its  resemblance  to  such  flies  would  become 
more  and  more  marked. 

This  experiment  was  repeated  again  and  again  under 
the  same,  and  different  conditions  of  light  and  water.  If 
the  investigation  had  any  value  at  all,  it  demonstrated 
that  only  when  either  from  the  size  or  color  or  distance 
of  the  fly  from  the  observer,  its  details  were  undistin- 
guishable — then,  and  then  only  was  it  possible  for  any- 
thing with  eyes  to  mistake  the  fly  for  a  minnow.* 

*  Since  writing  the  above,  shrimp  were  obtained  and  tried  in  the 
same  manner. 

The  experiment  was  not  altogether  satisfactory,  since  I  could  not 
get  the  shrimp  to  the  tank  alive.  Though  quite  fresh,  yet  they 
seemed  to  me  more  opaque  and  somewhat  grayer  in  color  than  when 
in  life.  That  exactness  of  condition  so  desirable  in  an  experiment 
was  therefore  wanting.  Still,  I  think  the  difference  was  hardly  so 
marked  as  to  deprive  the  results  of  all  value. 

It  may  be— indeed  I  judged  it  probable — that  salmon  may  under 
some  conditions  mistake  some  flies  for  shrimp,  but  it  can  only  be 
through  a  thicker  or  less  transparent  stratum  of  water  than  the  five 
feet  of  my  tank.  Under  no  circumstances  could  I  detect  more  than 
a  suggestion  of  a  resemblance. 

For  the  benefit  of  my  English  readers,  should  I  be  so  fortunate  as 
to  have  any,  I  might  say  that  the  shrimp  experimented  with  were 


Flies  and  Hooks.  97 

"Whether  the  full  blaze  of  an  unclouded  sun  fell  on  the 
water,  or  whether  the  sky  was  like  lead  and  "the  hour 
late,  at  all  times  and  under  all  circumstances  light  colors 
were  far  more  conspicuous  than  dark.  This  was  to  be  ex- 
pected. All  non-luminous  opaque  bodies  are  visible  solely 
by  reflected  light,  and  the  more  perfect  the  reflecting 
surfaces,  the  more  light  will  reach  the  eye,  and  the  more 
visible  they  will  be.  The  silver  bodies  of  the  Silver 
Doctor  and  Silver  Gray  were  the  most  obtrusive,  then 
yellow,  including  golden-pheasant  crests,  jungle-cock 
neck-feathers,  the  darker  color  of  golden-pheasant  tippets, 
reds,  browns,  and  blacks,  in  the  order  given.  With  a 
rain-sky,  only  the  butt  of  the  brown  mallard  wing  of  the 
Black  Fairy  where  it  merged  into  the  gray  could  be 
seen  at  three  feet,  while  all  but  the  wing  of  the  Black 
Dose  disappeared  as  welL  The  Fiery  Brown  could  be 
seen  a  little  farther,  and  a  little  beyond  this  the  Butcher 
disappeared.  Those  flies  having  a  mixed  wing  with  a 
golden-pheasant  crest  topping,  or  light  colors  in  the  body, 
were  at  the  same  time  quite  visible  the  entire  length  of 
the  tank. 

Swan's  feather  and  goat's  beard,  both  dyed  yellow, 
were  added  to  the  wing  of  the  Black  Fairy,  to  test  their 
respective  values  as  substitutes  for  the  expensive  golden- 
pheasant  crests.  Both  lacked  the  peculiar  sheen  of  the 
crest,  and  were  thought  to  be  decidedly  inferior. 

Mention  is  hereafter  made  that  objects  situate  without 
the  water  are  only  visible  to  fish  within  a  circular  area, 

those  frequenting  the  waters  in  the  vicinity  of  New  York  City — a 
rather  transkiceut  creature  about  one  and  a  half  inches  long,  and 
not  materially  different,  as  I  am  informed,  from  the  shrimp  of  Eng- 
land. 

7 


98  -  The  American  Salmon-fisheTman, 

the  centre  of  which  lies  directly  over  the  fish,  and  the 
diameter  of  which  is  to  the  depth  of  water  above  the  fish, 
as  twenty  is  to  thirteen.  Within  this  area  surrounding 
objects  were  clearly  visible  to  me,  while  other  portions  of 
the  surface  were  always  as  opaque  as  a  stone  wall.  When 
the  flies  were  displayed  within  the  transparent  space,  it 
was  almost  impossible,  with  one  exception,  to  distinguish 
one  variety  from  another,  no  matter  how  widely  their 
characteristics  might  differ.  When  a  comparatively  dull- 
colored  object  is  viewed  against  a  bright  light,  the  vivid 
impression  of  the  background  swallows  up  that  produced 
upon  the  retina  by  the  more  feebly  illuminated  interven- 
ing object;  and  to  this  was  the  result  attributed.  The 
Fiery  Brown  here  showed  decided  superiority.  Its  pecu- 
liar-colored hackle,  wound  the  whole  length  of  the  body, 
fairly  burned  with  transmitted  light. 

When  the  flies  were  examined  looking  toward  the  sun, 
somewhat  the,  same  effect  was  produced,  and  by  the  same 
cause.  No  matter  how  clear  the  water  might  be,  at  four 
feet,  their  characteristics  became  obscure.  If  the  ob- 
server then  changed  his  position  to  the  other  end  of  the 
tank,  so  that  the  sun  was  at  his  back,  every  detail  of  con- 
struction, even  to  the  hook  itself,  was  25lainly  visible  the 
full  length  of  the  tank.  In  the  one  case  the  illuminated 
side  was  viewed  against  a  dark  background;  in  the  other 
case  the  shaded  side  was  seen  against  a  bright  back- 
ground. The  difference  was  very  marked  when  the  sun 
was  on  the  meridian  of  the  tank,  diminishing  gradually 
as  it  bore  more  or  less  to  one  side. 

The  jungle-cock  neck-feather,  employed  so  frequently 
upon  the  cheeks  of  flies,  was  a  very  conspicuous  feature 
at  all  times  when  anything  beyond  the  flash  of  the  crest- 


Flies  and  Hooks.  99 

feather  of  the  wing,  or  the  sheen  of  the  silver  bodies 
could  be  seen.  When  a  dark-colored  body  was  visible 
the  hook  was  invariably  at  least  equally  conspicuous. 
Silver  tinsel  appeared  to  be  more  efficient  than  gold,  as 
might  be  expected  from  its  higher  reflecting  power, 
though  both  held  their  own  well. 

This  summarizes  such  results  of  these  experiments  as 
seem  to  me  to  be  of  general  interest,  and  which  I  am 
willing  to  characterize  as  facts. 

Applying  them  to  the  many  and  apparently  irrecon- 
cilable differences  of  opinion  in  regard  to  the  varieties  of 
flies  preferred  by  salmon,  and  bearing  in  mind  my  belief 
that  salmon  take  the  fly  as  and  for  food,  it  seems  to  me 
an  explanation  may  be  found  which  goes  far  toward  ac- 
counting for  many  of  these  apparent  discrepancies. 

When  would  we  naturally  expect  the  salmon  to  take 
the  fly  ?  Clearly  when,  though  visible,  it  resembles  as 
little  as  possible  what  it  really  is — a  flower  of  fancy  and 
no  production  of  nature.  We  find  these  conditions  filled 
when  the  size  or  colors,  or  both,  of  the  fly  are  so  adjusted 
to  the  depth  and  transparency  of  the  water  and  the  light 
which  falls  upon  it,  that  the  details  of  the  fly  are  obscure, 
and  only  the  general  effect  of  a  living  and  moving  object 
is  produced.  Should  the  attention  of  a  salmon  be  then 
directed  to  the  fly,  how  can  it  do  otherwise  than  attribute 
the  effect  produced  to  that  living  object,  with  which  it  is 
familiar,  which  most  closely  resembles  it  ?  And  should 
that  familiar  object  be  one  which  appeals  to  its  appetite 
at  the  time,  the  salmon  would  then  naturally,  as  it  seems 
to  me,  make  an  effort  to  take  it. 

On  the  other  hand,  should  the  fly  be  so  large,  or  its 


100  The  American  Salmon-fisherman. 

colors  so  pronounced  that  the  conditions  of  light  and  water 
enable  the  salmon  to  so  analyze  its  structure  at  a  glance 
as  to  preclude  the  exercise  of  its  imagination,  then  it 
seems  reasonable  to  suppose  they  would  recognize  that 
the  fly  was  nothing  which  concerned  them,  and  that  they 
would  ignore  its  presence. 

If  we  now  compare  what  ought  to  follow  from  this  as- 
sumption of  fact  with  what  we  know  actually  does  take 
place,  it  seems  to  me  we  shall  find  the  results  in  accord. 

Experience  has  taught  us  that  in  the  early  season  and 
in  turbid  water,  or  in  dark  and  windy  weather,  larger  flies 
and  those  of  a  more  striking  hue  are  successful.  The 
greater  depth  of  water,  and  its  diminished  transparency, 
or  the  feeble  illumination  of  the  fly,  would  lead  us  to  ex- 
pect this,  since  the  details  of  construction  are  then  ob- 
scured by  a  comparatively  thin  stratum^  of  water,  leaving 
full  play  to  the  imagination  of  the  fish. 

We  also  know  that  when  the  water  is  low  and  clear, 
and  untouched  by  wind,  while  the  light  is  strong,  that 
then  smaller  flies  of  less  obtrusive  character  alone  will 
move  the  fish,  if  indeed  even  they  will  do  it.  This,  too, 
should  result  from  our  theory. 

If  we  also  take  into  consideration  the  marked  degree 
in  which  the  visibility  of  the  fly,  and  consequently  the 
power  to  analyze  it,  depends  upon  the  direction  of  the 
sun  with  relation  to  the  fish,  we  will  find,  it  seems  to  me, 
at  least  a  probable  explanation  of  many  other  facts  of 
the  same  kind.  We  have  proved  experimentally  that 
when  the  sun  is  at  the  back  of  the  observer,  the  make-up 
of  the  fly  is  plain  for  a  comparatively  long  distance; 
while  when  the  sun  shines  in  the  observer's  face  the  fly 
speedily  becomes  obscured. 


Flies  aiid  Hooks.  10| 

I  draw  from  these  considerations  the  folio wiag^p^ati-' 
tical  deductions.  >>^'>'. 

I  believe  that  salmon  only  take  the  fly  when  its  details 
are  obscure,  and  when  there  is  room  for  the  imagination 
of  the  fish  to  clothe  it  with  the  attributes  of  some  object 
with  which  it  is  familiar,  and  for  which  it  has  an  appetite 
at  the  time. 

That  it  may  be  urged  against  this  that  there  must  be 
some  point  during  the  progress  of  the  fish  toward  the  fly 
where  every  detail  is  apparent,  I  have  not  overlooked. 
Sometimes  salmon  rise  to  the  fly  and  take  it.  We  are  all 
as  familiar  with  the  phenomenon  of  salmon  rising  "  short " 
— rising  at  the  fly,  yet  refusing  to  take  it — as  we  desire 
to  be.  That  in  the  one  case  the  permanence  of  an 
already  fixed  impression  and  the  eagerness  of  pursuit 
blinds  them;  while  in  the  other,  that  the  lesser  ardor  of 
a  more  languid  appetite  prompts  a  more  cautious  ad- 
vance— is  a  satisfactory  explanation  to  my  mind.  Indeed, 
the  fact  that  salmon  do  rise  "  short "  at  all  seems  to  me 
confirmatory  of  the  theory. 

When  salmon  rise  short,  or  when  they  refuse  to  rise  at 
all,  I  believe  it  is  either  because  the  fish  see  too  much  of 
the  fly,  or  because  they  can  mistake  it  for  nothing  for 
which  they  care  at  that  particular  time. 

These  two  principles,  if  valid,  would  seem  especially  to 
commend  themselves  to  the  beginner.  They  do  not,  it  is 
true,  direct  him  infallibly  to  the  exact  fly  which  will 
best  suit  every  occasion,  but  they  will  guide  him  in  the 
direction  in  which  it  may  be  sought.  The  particular 
thing  which  a  salmon  may  fancy  at  that  moment,  if  it 
fancies  anything,  is  largely  a  matter  of  guesswork,  to  be 
determined,  if  at  all,  by  the  experience  of  others  with  the 


*^2     ,  /;    T}\£,  American  Salmon  fisherman. 

Kun^eifcrtbe  fishr  wiii^li  frequent  that  water.  But  if  these 
principl^t  ^,\'Q  recognized  and  acted  on,  he  has  a  definite 
rule  to  direct  him — something  at  all  events  much  better 
than  mere  random  experiment. 

He  then  studies  the  stage  and  state  of  the  water,  the 
character  of  the  light,  and  its  direction  with  reference  to 
the  fish,  which  of  course  are  always  headed  up  stream, 
He  assumes  that  the  fish  lie  near  the  bottom.  He  then 
selects  from  among  the  flies  which  experience  has  shown 
to  suit  the  fish  of  that  water,  one  which  in  size  and  color 
he  judges  would  be  visible  for  some  distance,  yet  the 
details  of  which  he  thinks  will  become  apparent  only 
after  the  fish  has  progressed  in  its  approach  toward  the 
&y.  With  this  he  begins,  using  a  larger  fly  in  deep  or 
much  troubled  water,  and  a  smaller  one  where  it  is 
shallow  or  smoother,  always  striving  for  the  golden 
mean  between  visibility  and  obscurity,  wherein  lies 
success. 

Should  a  fish  rise,  yet  rise  short,  he  attributes  its  action 
to  a  definite  cause;  and,  after  a  brief  delay  that  its  dis- 
trust and  disappointment  may  subside,  oifers  it  a  smaller 
fly  of  the  same  kind.  He  has  erred  on  the  side  of  visi- 
bility, and  tries  the  smaller  fly  as  necessarily  more  ob- 
scure. Should  that  fail,  he  rests  the  fish  again  for  the 
same  reason,  and  tries  a  fly  one  part  of  which — say  the 
body — is  still  more  obscure.  Or,  to  be  more  precise,  as- 
sume that  the  fish  first  rose  to  a  Jock  Scott.  He  tries  it 
the  second  time  with  a  smaller  fly  of  the  same  kind;  and 
that  failing,  resorts,  perhaps,  to  a  Black  Dose,  the  wing 
of  which  is  as  conspicuous  as  that  of  the  other  fly,  while 
the  body  and  hackle  are  much  less  so. 

In  short,  he  knows  what  he  is  trying  to  do,  and,  study- 


Flies  and  Hooks,  103 

ing  the  surrounding  circumstances,  uses  his  brains  to  ac- 
complish the  desired  result. 

It  may  be  well  to  add  this  to  the  results  of  my  experi- 
ments already  given.  Though  I  could  not  imitate  the 
motion  given  to  a  salmon-fly  to  my  entire  satisfaction, 
still  I  was  able  to  do  so  sufiiciently  to  make  me  feel 
pretty  confident  that  the  opening  and  closing  action  of 
the  wings,  whicK  salmon-flies  are  supposed  to  have  when 
properly  manipulated,  is  usually  somewhat  overestimated, 
and  by  no  means  of  as  much  consequence  as  the  flashing 
of  the  mixed  wings,  particularly  of  those  of  which  the 
crest  of  the  golden-pheasant  was  a  constituent.  I  have 
already  spoken  of  the  strong  impression  their  appearance 
made  upon  me.  It  seemed  to  me  that  this  appearance 
was  more  facilitated  by  vibrating  the  tip  of  the  rod 
rather  slowly  in  the  usual  manner,  than  by  moving  it 
steadily,  or  vibrating  it  rapidly. 

A  discussion  of  the  choice  of  salmon-flies  naturally 
divides  itself  into  two  branches:  First,  the  selection  of  a 
particular  fly  to  suit  a  particular  occasion  when  in  pres- 
ence of  the  fish;  and  Second,  the  selection  of  a  stock  of 
flies  preparatory  to  a  trip,  as  part  of  the  outfit  for  that 
trip. 

The  first  we  have  already  disposed  of  to  the  best  of 
our  ability.     The  second  remains  to  be  considered. 

The  reader  will  find  a  sound  practical  rule  for  this  pur- 
pose foreshadowed  in  the  imaginary  letter  in  our  first 
chapter.  Ask  tho  person  from  whom  the  fishing  is  leased 
what  kinds  of  flies  and  of  what  sizes  have  proved  the 
most  successful  upon  his  water  during  that  portion  of 


104  The  American  Salmon-fisherman, 

the  season  in  which  it  is  proposed  to  fish.  Though  pos- 
sibly this  may  not  disclose  the  very  best  possible  fly  for 
that  water  and  time,  it  is  sure  to  name  some  that  will 
answer  very  well.  But  to  render  the  inquiry  of  value, 
the  size  as  well  as  the  kind  should  be  included  in  the  in- 
terrogatory; and,  since  both  will  vary  during  the  season, 
the  question  should  be  specifically  limited  to  the  time 
when  it  is  proposed  to  fish. 

If  this  guide  is  unavailable, — if  the  reader  intends  to 
try  the  Penobscot,  for  example, — the  next  best  course 
would  appear  to  be  to  select  such  flies  as  the  ma- 
jority of  salmon-anglers  unite  in  commending,  if  such 
there  are.  Though  almost  every  authority  has  his  indi- 
vidual preferences  which  may  not  be  included  in  the 
following  list,  still  few,  if  any,  mention  the  flies  therein 
contained  without  praise.  With  the  Jock  Scott,  Silver 
Doctor  or  Silver  Gray,  Durham  Ranger,  Pophara,  and 
Butcher  for  the  higher-colored  flies;  and  with  the  Black 
Dose,  Fiery  Brown,  Brown  Fairy,  and  Black  Fairy,  for 
those  of  more  sober  hue,  in  his  fly-book,  the  beginner 
may  venture  on  his  proposed  trip  without  apprehension. 
He  should  have  at  least  two — better  still,  three — sizes  of 
each.  If  early  in  the  season,  he  should  be  supplied  with 
flies  tied  on  hooks  ly\  and  l^''^  inches  long,  while 
during  the  latter  half  of  the  season  those  on  hooks  ly^ 
and  1^^^  inches  long  will  probably  be  more  useful.  This 
is  the  general  rule.  But  freshets  or  abnormally  low 
water  may  render  the  flies  usually  appropriate  to  one 
part  of  the  season,  preferable  in  the  other.  It  is  safer, 
therefore,  to  be  provided  with  the  three  sizes. 

Salmon  are  by  no  means  so  destructive  of  flies  as  trout. 
Six  flies  of  each  kind  of  each  size,  if  leaders  tested  to  eight 


Flies  and  Hooks.  105 

pounds  are  used,  will  doubtless  be  sufficient  for  a  month  or 
six  weeks'  use.  If  it  is  decided  to  economize  in  quantity, 
the  sacrifice  should  be  on  one  or  the  other  extreme  of 
the  scale,  according  to  the  season,  and  not  in  the  middle; 
while  if  the  number  is  to  be  reduced,  select  in  the  follow- 
ing order:  Jock  Scott,  Silver  Doctor,  Black  Dose,  Brown 
Fairy,  Durham  Ranger,  Fiery  Brown,  Butcher  or  Pop- 
ham,  and  Black  Fairy.  But  always  have  plenty  of  Jock 
Scotts.  It  holds  the  rank  among  salmon-flies  of  the 
Brov/n  Hackle  among  trout-flies,  in  that  it  is  universally 
applicable  to  any  and  every  water  with  good  effect.  The 
patterns  tied  by  Forest,  of  Kelso,  Scotland,  seem  to  be 
preferred  in  this  country,  and  they  are  certainly  both 
tastefully  and  durably  made.  The  varieties  above  named 
and  of  the  make  indicated  are  well  known,  and  can  be 
obtained  of  any  extensive  dealer  in  fishing-tackle. 

HOOKS. 

Next  in  order  comes  the  all-important  question  upon 
v/hat  form  of  hooks  should  our  flies  be  made. 

I  entered  quite  fully  into  the  mechanics  of  the  fish- 
hook in  my  former  volume,  "  Fly-Rods  and  Fly-Tackle." 
Without  repeating  what  was  there  said,  the  rules  which 
are  my  guide  in  the  selection  of  hooks  are  offered  for 
what  they  may  be  worth,  together  with  a  brief  statement 
of  the  reasons  upon  which  they  are  based. 

I  first  place  the  hook  on  a  level  surface,  the  glass 
show-case  of  the  salesman  for  example,  in  the  position 
shown  in  the  following  figure,  in  which  B  C  represents 
the  level  surface. 


106 


The  American  Salmo7i-fisher7na/rh, 


I  then  construct  in  imagination  the  parallelogram  h  c 
de,  of  which  the  barb-side  of  the  point,  a,  is  the  diagonal, 
as  shown  in  the  following  figure. 


Fig.  9 


Then,  unless  the  side  b  c  considerably  exceeds  in  length 
the  perpendicular  c  e,  the  hook  is  condemned.  It  is 
obvious  that  the  barb  shown  on  the  left-hand  side  of  the 
figure  is  much  more  likely  to  rake  its  way  out  of  a  fish's 
mouth  than  that  on  the  right  hand,  while  the  latter  will 
bury  sufficiently  to  insure  a  good  hold  if  it  buries  at  all. 
Therefore  in  certainty  the  right-hand  barb  is  superior, 
while  practically  equal  otherwise.  The  shorter  the  side 
b  c,  when  compared  to  the  side  c  e,  the  more  defective  is 
the  hook  in  this  respect,  since  when  the  side  b  c  becomes 
nothing  there  is  no  tendency  to  penetrate  at  all.  The 
relation  of  these  sides  of  the  parallelogram  to  one  another 
expresses  the  certainty  of  the  hook  to  bite;  and  there- 
fore the  rule  as  given  above. 


Flies  and  TIooTcs,  107 

The  shape  of  the  point,  including  that  of  the  barb,  is 
next  considered.  Easy  penetration  is  here  the  desidera- 
tum. A  needle  will  penetrate  more  readily  than  a  brad- 
awl. The  point  should  be  conical  that  it  may  enter  easily, 
as  in  A  in  the  following  figure;  and  long,  that  a  fairly 
prominent  barb  may  be  given  without  making  the  hook 
"  hollow-pointed,"  as  in  B, 


Fig.  10. 

It  needs  no  argument  to  show  that  much  less  force  will 
bury  the  point  A  beyond  the  barb  than  will  be  required 
by  the  point  B  for  that  purpose,  while  the  difference  in 
holding  power  is  not  material  if  the  hook  is  otherwise 
properly  constructed. 

Next,  the  wire  should  not  be  cut  over  one  third 
through  in  forming  the  barb.  This  is  a  most  common 
fault,  particularly  in  "hollow-pointed"  hooks.  If  then 
the  point  comes  in  contact  with  a  bone,  or  if  a  powerful 
fish  wrenches  upon  it,  the  point  is  apt  to  break  off  at  the 
cut.  It  is  far  better  to  have  a  smaller  barb  that  will 
stand  up  to  its  work,  than  a  larger  one  which  is  pretty 
certain  to  fail  the  moment  a  really  good  fish  is  fastened. 

Next,  the  hook  should  be  deep  on  the  barb-side.  The 
play  of  the  fish  should  be  away  from  the  point  of  escape 


108  The  American  Salmon-fisherman. 

— not  on  its  very  threshold.  The  barb  should  come  into 
use  but  seldom,  and  then  only  to  withstand  some  mo- 
mentary and  unusual  convulsion  of  the  fish.  Otherwise 
every  struggle  is  a  direct  strain  upon  the  barb,  necessarily 
a  weak  spot,  since  the  wire  is  there  partially  divided. 

Lastly,  the  wire  should  be  heavy  enough  so  that  the 
hook  will  not  open  much,  if  any,  when  the  point  is  en- 
gaged in  a  block  of  wood  and  the  shank  is  pulled  upon. 
For  if  the  hook  springs  open  under  these  circumstances, 
of  course  the  form  of  the  bend  is  at  once  changed,  and 
a  hook  which  would  meet  approval  under  the  rule  first 
given  might  so  vary  in  use  as  to  become  exceedingly  de- 
fective. 

The  O'Shaughnessy,  the  Limerick,  and  the  Sproat  are 
the  forms  of  hooks  most  used  in  salmon-flies  in  this  coun- 
try. Assuming  these  rules  to  be  valid,  as  I  believe  them 
to  be,  if  we  apply  them  to  these  hooks  we  shall  obtain 
the  following  results  : 

The  tendency  of  the  O'Shaughnessy  to  penetrate  is  very 
fair,  though  not  as  good  as  the  Sproat.  The  shape  of 
the  point  is  also  usually  good;  the  wire  is  not  cut  too 
much  in  forming  the  barb;  it  has  fair  depth  on  the  barb- 
side,  though  inferior  to  the  Limerick  in  this  respect;  and 
the  wire  is  heavy  enough. 

The  Limerick  has  not  the  certainty  of  either  the  Sproat 
or  the  O'Shaughnessy.  The  barb  is  bad,  since  not  only 
is  it  "hollow-pointed,"  but  the  wire  is  usually  cut  half 
through  in  its  formation.  To  offset  this,  it  has  the  great- 
est depth  of  any  on  the  barb-side,  so  that  the  fish  plays 
at  the  greatest  distance  from  the  point  of  escape,  while 
the  wire  is  heavy  enough  to  prevent  the  hook  from 
changing  shape  when  the  point  becomes  engaged. 


Flies  and  Hooks.  109 

To  criticise  the  Sproat  is  difficult.  Every  manufac- 
turer seems  to  make  a  hook  which  he  calls  a  Sproat,  and 
the  market  is  flooded  with  hooks  under  this  name,  no 
two  of  which  are  alike.  For  some  years  I  have  been  un- 
able to  obtain  the  form  upon  which  the  Sproat  made  its 
reputation,  and  which  was  really  a  good  hook.  Some  of 
the  recent  types  have  every  defect  a  hook  can  have — 
some  of  them  more,  some  of  them  less.  But  all  of  them 
seem  to  have  one  feature  which  should  preclude  them 
from  use  against  a  fish  which  fights  so  long  and  so  hard 
as  a  salmon — they  are  very  short  on  the  barb-side.  The 
fish,  therefore,  plays  directly  on  the  barb,  which  is  con- 
sequently very  liable  to  be  broken  off.  I  have  known 
three  of  these  hooks  to  fail  at  this  point  in  one  day's  fish- 
ing. The  state  of  mind  of  their  unhappy  user  may  easily 
be  imagined. 

Of  these  hooks,  therefore,  the  O'Shaughnessy  is  decid- 
edly the  best  for  salmon-flies,  and  upon  them 
the  Forest  flies  are  tied. 

But  a  so-called  modification  of  the  Lim- 
erick hook,  the  invention  of  Mr.  H.  Chol- 
mondeley  Pennell,  the  well-known  angling- 
author,  has  recently  appeared  in  England, 
which  I  believe  to  be  far  superior  to  any 
of  these.  I  recommend  this  hook  with  the 
greater  confidence,  since  I  have  used  Mr. 
Pennell's  modification  of  the  Sneck-bend  for 
three  or  four  years  under  conditions  designed 
to  thoroughly  test  its  efficiency  and  strength.  „   Fi>  11. 

^-in-  -IT  1  /./.    PenneUSneck- 

Gradually  it  superseded  every  other  form  or     bend  Hook. 
hook  in  my  esteem,  until  last  year  I  used  no  other,  except 
upon  compulsion  and  with  reluctance. 


u 


no 


The  American  Salmon-fishermcm, 


It  will  be  noticed  that  the  point  is  set  in  toward  the 
shank  so  as  to  insure  all  the  certainty  of  penetration 
which  the  original  form  of  Sproat  possessed — or  indeed 
which  is  possible  in  a  hook;  that  the  point  is  long 
and  conical;  that  the  wire  is  but  little  weakened  in  the 
formation  of  the  barb;  that  it  is  deep  on  the  shank-side; 
that  the  wire  is  of  sufficient  thickness  to  prevent  change 
of  form;  and  that  the  shank  is  straight,  thus  facilitating 
the  tying  of  the  fly. 

My  attention  was  but  recently  called  to  the  "  Improved 
Limerick"  hook.  Though  its  name  and  shape  might 
lead  a  casual  observer  to  consider  it  really  a  modifica- 
tion of  the  hook  from  which  it  is  named,  careful  con- 
sideration of  the  following  diagram  of  the  three  sizes 


y 


Fig.  12. 


most  useful  to  the  salmon-fishermen  in  this  country,  will 
show  that  it  is  really  nothing  but  the  Pennell  Sneck-bend 
hook,  with  the  angle  where  the  shank  merges  into  the 
bend  softened  into  an  easier  curve. 


Flies  and  Hooks,  ill 

The  weakness  due  to  the  somewhat  angular  bend  in 
the  old  form  was  compensated  for  by  increasing  the 
thickness  of  metal  at  that  place,  and  it  answered  every 
purpose,  as  far  as  I  could  see.  The  substitution  of  the 
curve  for  the  angle  gives  even  greater  strength,  but  it  is 
gained  only  at  the  sacrifice  of  the  long  straight  shank  of 
the  Sneck  form — a  loss  which  the  fly-tier  will  deplore. 

Salmon-flies  are  usually  provided  with  a  small  loop  of 
twisted  gut  by  which  they  are  secured  to  the  leader. 
This  system  is  open  to  objection.  When  the  loop  has 
been  once  wet,  and  has  become  dry  again,  it  is  often 
found  to  be  twisted  upon  itself.  Thereafter  it  will  be 
very  difficult  to  make  the  fly  swim  upright  and  upon  an 
even  keel,  instead  of  which  it  is  apt  to  wobble  through 
the  water  in  a  manner  equally  demoralizing  to  the  fish 
and  to  the  angler. 

A  letter,  recently  received  from  one  of  the  highest  au- 
thorities on  fly-fishing  in  the  United  Kingdom,  assures 
me  that  the  better  class  of  fly -fishermen  throughout 
Great  Britain  have  abandoned  the  use  of  all  gut  append- 
ages to  the  fly,  whether  large  or  small.  The  imitation 
insect  is  built  upon  a  naked  hook,  the  shank-end  of 
which  terminates  in  a  small  eye,  as  shown  in  the  preced- 
ing figure,  into  which  the  leader  is  tied. 

Eyed  hooks  are  old,  and  have  been  tried  and  found 
wanting.  It  is  but  another  example  of  how  slight  a 
change  of  structure  will  often  convert  a  mechanical  fail- 
ure into  a  practical  success.  The  change  in  this  instance 
consisted  in  giving  the  eye  a  bend  upward  of  something 
more  than  half  a  right  angle.  The  leader,  if  the  knot  is 
properly  tied,  then  leads  from  the  hook  in  a  continuation 


112  The  American  Bdlmon-fisherman. 

of  the  line  of  the  shank,  causing  the  fly  to  swim  upright 
and  on  an  even  keel.  All  injury  to  the  fly  from  drawing 
it  through  the  loop  terminating  the  leader  is  thus  avoided, 
since  that  loop  is  dispensed  w4th,  while  the  useful  life  of 
the  fly  depends  on  the  cohesion  of  the  material  of  which 
it  is  composed,  rather  than  on  the  integrity  of  the  gut 
upon  which  it  is  tied.  Some  authorities  claim  that  a  fly 
so  constructed  will  last  five  times  as  long  as  one  made  in 
the  manner  usual  here — an  important  feature  when  the 
cost  is  considered.  But  however  that  may  be,  there  can 
be  no  question  that  a  fly  so  made  w^ill  last  much  longer, 
be  less  likely  to  snap  off  on  the  back-cast,  swim  straighter, 
and  that  the  connection  between  the  fly  and  the  outside 
world  will  be  much  more  closely  disguised. 

Mr.  Pennell  has  improved  on  this  feature  of  the  hook 
by  turning  the  eye  downward,  as  shown  in  the  figure,  in- 
stead of  upward.  The  draft-line — or,  in  other  words,  the 
sureness  of  the  hook — is  certainly  improved  by  the  change. 
It  would  also  seem  that  the  gut  should  then  lead  in  a  line 
more  coincident  with  that  of  the  shank  of  the  hook,  with 
a  consequent  improvement  in  the  swim  of  the  fly. 

The  following  diagrams  and  directions  showing  how 
the  leader  should  be  secured  to  the  hook,  are  borrowed 
from  Mr.  Pennell  himself.  The  term  "central  link" 
designates  the  body-part  of  the  leader,  as  distinguished 
from  its  end -part. 


Fig.  13. 


Flies  cmd  Hooks.  113 

"Take  the  hook  by  the  bend  between  the  finger  and 
thumb  of  the  left  hand,  and  with  the  eye  turned  down- 
ward in  the  position  shown  in  the  diagram  ;  then — the 
gut  being  first  thoroughly  well  soaked — push  the  end, 
with  a  couple  of  inches  or  so,  down  through  the  eye  (B) 
toward  the  point  of  the  hook  ;  then  pass  it  round  over 
the  shank  of  the  hook,  and  again,  from  the  opposite  side, 
downward  through  the  eye  in  a  direction  away  from  the 
hook's  point  (the  gut-end  and  the  central  link  will  now 
be  lying  parallel)  ;  make  the  double  slij^-knot  (A)  round 
the  central  link  ((7),  and  pull  the  said  knot  itself  per- 
fectly tight ;  then  draw  the  loop  of  gut,  together  with 
the  knot  (^),  backward  (toward  the  tail  of  the  fly) 
until  the  knot  presses  tightly  into  and  against  the  metal 
eye  of  the  hook  (-B),  where  hold  it  firmly  with  the  fore- 
finger and  thumb  of  the  left  hand,  whilst  with  the  right 
hand — and  '  humoring '  the  gut  in  the  process — the  cen- 
tral link  is  drawn  tight,  thus  taking  in  the  'slack'  of  the 
knot.  When  finished,  cut  the  superfluous  gut-end  off 
close." 

"  [To  tie  a  double  slip-knot :  Make  a  single  slip-knot 

(A)^  and,  before  drawing  it  close,    ^^_ q 

pass  the  gut-end  (S)  a  second  time  ~A'^-'^^  ""—(7 
round  the  central  link  ( C),  and  then  Fig.  14. 

again  through  the  loop  (J.),  when  the  knot  will  be  like 
(J.)  in  the  larger  diagram.  To  finish,  pull  the  end  of  the 
gut  (B) — gradually,  and  at  last  very  tightly — straight- 
away:  in  a  line,  that  is,  with  the  central  link  (6').]" 

He  who  is  accustomed  to  tie  his  own  leaders,  will  rec- 
ognize this  knot  as  that  Avhich  is  generally  termed  in  this 
country  "the  double  water-knot." 

I  cannot  but  think  this  a  very* decided  advance  on  the 
8 


114  The  American  Salmon-fisherman. 

methods  at  present  in  use  in  this  country.  It  is  adapted 
to  all  sizes  of  flies,  from  the  minutest  midge  to  the  larg- 
est salmon-fly,  though  the  greater  comparative  cost  of 
the  latter,  and  the  greater  durability  which  it  insures, 
render  it  more  important  that  it  should  be  applied  to 
them.  By  the  time  this  book  is  in  print,  or  soon  there- 
after, it  is  hoped  these  hooks  and  flies  tied  thereon  may 
be  had  in  this  country.  It  rests,  however,  in  great  meas- 
ure with  the  anglers  themselves.  Fishing-tackle  dealers 
are  conservative  as  a  rule;  and  though  comj^etition  will 
do  much,  more  in  the  way  of  improvement  and  advance 
is  to  be  accomplished  by  outside  pressure.  If  allVho 
approve  of  the  foregoing,  and  desire  to  try  these  hooks, 
will  but  ask  their  respective  fishing-tackle  dealers  for 
them,  they  will  soon  be  on  sale  everywhere. 


Salmon-fishing — Casting  the  Fly.  115 


CHAPTER  YL 

SALMON-FISHING— CASTING  THE  FLY. 

The  suggestion  of  salmon-fishing  to  a  trout-fisherman 
inexperienced  therein,  at  once  raises  the  doubt  in  his 
mind  whether  he  will  be  able  to  cast  efliciently  with  a 
salmon-rod  without  long  preliminary  practice;  and  his 
very  first  question  is  usually  designed  to  relieve  his  mind 
on  this  point. 

My  answer  to  this  question  has  been,  that  he  who  can 
cast  with  a  single-handed  trout-rod,  will  be  able  to  cast 
equally  well  with  a  double-handed  salmon-rod  with  little 
if  any  more  special  practice  than  would  be  required  to 
pass  for  the  first  time  from  the  use  of  a  five-ounce  to 
that  of  a  nine-ounce  rod. 

Some  of  the  books  contain  diagrams  showing  the  path 
to  be  described  in  the  air  by  the  tip  of  the  rod  and  other 
like  matters,  intended  to  instruct  the  beginner  in  the 
art  of  casting  with  the  salmon-rod.  Though  accustomed 
to  reading  mechanical  drawings  and  interpreting  descrip- 
tive matter  relating  to  them,  these  diagrams  were  to 
me  a  source  of  doubt  and  uncertainty.  Exactly  what 
was  their  purpose  I  could  not  determine  to  my  own 
satisfaction.  It  was  only  after  experience  had  illumined 
the  question  that  I  found  it  could  have  well  been  para- 
phrased thus — so  handle  your  rod  on  the  back-cast  that 
the  fly  shall  not  strike  the  rod  in  its  backward   flight. 


116 


The  American  Salmon-fisherman. 


Perhaps  the  fact  that  the  path  to  be  described  by  the  tip 
of  the  rod  to  accomplish  this  result  must  vary  with  the 
presence  or  absence  of  wind,  or  its  direction  if  present, 
may  have  confused  me.  Only  when  a  dead  calm  prevails 
can  directions  of  this  kind  be  applicable. 

But  however  this  may  be,  it  all  amounts  to  the  very 
elementary  principle  indicated — a  principle  which  every 
tyro  discovers  during  the  first   twenty  minutes   of   his 


n'.?>^ 


maiden  effort  to  cast  the  fly.  We  all  know  that  in  a 
dead  calm  the  rod  must  follow  one  path  en  the  back-cast 
and  another  on  the  forward-cast;  that  if  the  wind  is 
quartering,  or  from  either  side,  the  rod  should  travel 
backward  and  forward  in  the  same  substantially  perpen- 
dicular plane;   and  that  when  the  wind   is   gusty   and 


Salmon  fishing — Casting  the  Fly,  117 

baffling,  the  best  of  us  are  sometimes  caught  napping,  to 
our  great  mortification  and  disgust. 

I  have  alluded  to  this  matter  thus  at  length,  lest  the 
incipient  salmon-fisherman  be  deluded,  as  I  was,  by  the 
very  simplicity  of  the  real  explanation  into  seeking  a 
hidden  meaning  which  has  no  existence. 

There  is,  however,  one  difference  in  casting  with  a 
salmon-rod,  that  he  whose  experience  has  been  limited 
to  a  single-handed  rod  must  by  no  means  overlook. 


When  casting  with  a  single-handed  rod,  the  practical 
centre  of  motion  lies  within  the  hand  which  holds  the  rod. 
When  the  upper  part  of  the  rod  is  thrown  behind  the 
angler  on  the  back-cast,  that  portion  of  the  handle  which 
is  below  the  hand  moves  toward  the  front,  as  shown  in 
Fig.  16. 


118  The  American  Salmon-fishermcm, 

When  the  forward-cast  is  made,  that  portion  of  the 
handle  moves  toward  the  rear,  as  shown  in  Fig.  16.  The 
casting-hand  is  in  effect  a  pivot  upon  Avhich  the  rod  oscil- 
lates. 

Now  let  us  assume  that  we  have  before  us  an  expert 
in  the  use  of  the  single-handed  rod,  essaying  to  cast  with 
a  double-handed  rod  for  the  first  time.  Since  example 
is  better  than  precept,  a  close  observation  and  analysis 
of  his  procedure  cannot  fail  to  be  instructive. 

Having  always  been  accustomed  to  manipulate  his  rod 
with  the  hand  above  the  reel,  he  naturally  relies  mainly 
on  that  hand  to  govern  the  rod;  and  as  naturally,  and 
for  the  same  reason,  endeavors  to  make  that  hand  the 
centre  of  motion,  and  to  compel  the  lower  hand  to  com- 
form  thereto.  In  other  words,  he  endeavors  to  reproduce 
the  motion  of  the  single-handed  rod,  moving  that  portion 
of  the  butt  below  his  upper  hand  to  the  front  when  the 
upper  part  of  the  rod  is  thrown  behind  him  for  the  back- 
cast;  and  reversing  the  motion  of  these  parts  upon  the 
forward-cast,  his  upper  hand  being  the  centre  of  motion. 
He  is  in  trouble  at  once.  If  he  holds  the  rod  approxi- 
mately opposite  the  middle  of  his  body,  as  is  inevitable 
since  both  hands  are  employed,  he  will  hardly  have  begun 
his  forward-cast  before  that  portion  of  the  rod  below  his 
upper  hand — reversing  as  it  does  the  motion  of  the  upper 
part  of  the  rod — encounters  his  stomach,  and  brings  the 
cast  to  an  untimely  and  disagreeable  end. 

A  few  experiences  of  this  kind  are  a  full  dose  for  a 
grown  man.  Some  modification  is  imperative.  He  next 
endeavors  to  cast  by  holding  the  rod  well  off  to  one  side, 
so  thad;  the  butt  may  swing  clear.  If  standing,  this  is  in 
measure  successful,  until  excessive  fatigue  from  the  un- 


Salmon-fishing — Casting  the  Fly.  119 

natural  and  constrained  position  indicates  that  something 
must  be  wrong  about  it  too.  If  sitting,  he  finds  not  even 
this  faint  shadow  of  encouragement.  The  butt  of  the 
rod  is  as  constantly  in  the  way  as  is  a  sword  to  him  who 
for  the  first  time  tries  to  dance  with  one  by  his  side — and 
moreover  it  kicks  like  a  mule. 

The  path  may  be  longer  or  shorter,  and  it  may  be  more 
or  less  thorny,  but  it  leads  to  this  at  last.  He  now  grasps 
the  rod  with  the  lower  hand  at  the  extreme  end  of  the 
butt.  He  makes  this  the  centre  of  motion  instead  of  his 
upper  hand,  and  moves  the  latter  hand  to  conform  thereto. 
The  rod  at  once  abandons  its  vicious  demeanor,  and  ceases 
to  kick,  since  the  kicking  part  is  held  still;  and  lo  !  the 
problem  is  solved. 

If  he  who  is  accustomed  to  flyfishing  for  trout  with  a 
single-handed  rod  will  but  bear  this  principle  in  mind, 
he  may  look  forward  with  confidence  to  handling  a  sal- 
mon-rod at  his  first  effort,  with  little  or  no  embarrass- 
ment as  far  as  casting  is  concerned. 

.  Nor  is  this  all  of  benefit  to  be  had  from  this  method  of 
handling  the  rod.  Upon  no  one  point  in  the  use  of  the 
single-handed  rod  is  there  a  more  complete  concord  of 
opinion,  than  that  both  hands  should  be  educated  to 
handle  the  rod  with  equal  facility  and  skill.  Every  in- 
structor, whether  in  print,  at  home,  or  in  the  field,  strives 
to  impress  this  upon  the  beginner.  The  more  deficient 
the  instructor  himself  may  be  in  this  respect  through  de- 
fective early  training,  the  greater  his  appreciation  of  the 
accomplishment,  and  the  more  urgent  his  recommenda- 
tion. 

The  ability  to  handle  a  salmon-rod  with  either  hand 
above  the  reel,  if  not  the  exact  counterpart  of  this,  dif- 


120  The  American  Salmon-fisherman. 

fers  only  in  that  it  is  of  even  greater  importance.  If 
the  beginner  will  but  grasp  the  rod  at  its  extreme  lower 
end,  and  make  that  end  the  pivot  upon  which  the  rod 
swings, — bring  his  upper  hand  as  close  to  the  reel  as 
the  length  of  the  rod  and  his  physical  strength  will  con- 
veniently permit,  that  the  amplitude  of  motion  of  that 
hand  may  be  reduced  to  a  minimum, — and  then,  treating 
the  lower  hand  almost  as  if  it  were  a  mere  socket,  compel 
the  upper  hand  to  conform  to  the  motion  of  the  rod — he 
wull  find  little  embarrassment  from  this  cause  at  the  out- 
set, and  none  at  all  after  a  very  little  j^ractice.  He  will 
then  not  only  be  able  to  cast  over  either  shoulder  with 
equal  indifference  and  eflSciency,  but  he  will  be  able  to 
substitute  the  position  of  one  hand  for  that  of  the  other 
whenever  the  approach  of  fatigue  suggests  the  change. 

Perhaps  no  mental  constitution  is  more  rare  than  that 
which  enables  the  old  and  experienced  to  remember  their 
youth  or  their  novitiate,  and  to  so  recall  the  obstacles 
which  then  beset  their  path  as  to  place  them  before  the 
beginner,  and  show  him  how  they  may  be  avoided.  Self- 
evident  as  it  must  appear  upon  the  least  consideration 
that  the  foregoing  principle  lies  at  the  very  root  of  facil- 
ity in  the  use  of  a  salmon-rod,  still  neither  from  any  of 
the  many  books  which  I  consulted,  nor  from  any  of  my 
expert  friends,  did  I  receive  the  slightest  intimation  of 
its  existence.  To  author  and  angler  alike  the  day  when 
they  first  stood  rod  in  hand  upon  the  bank  of  a  salmon- 
river,  and  their  early  struggles  at  the  foot  of  the  rugged 
hill  of  knowledge,  had  become  a  memory  too  vague  and 
shadowy  to  be  recalled.  The  higher  phases  of  the  art, 
particularly  in  reference  to  those  points  as  to  which  the 
most  skilled  differ  in  theory  and  practice,  they  could  dis- 


Salmon-fishing — Casting  the  Fly.  121 

cuss  with  ability  and  precision.  But  the  needs  of  the  be- 
ginner had  been  forgotten;  and  he,  himself  ignorant  of 
what  was  to  him  unknown,  could  not  aid  their  memory  by 
suggestive  inquiry. 

To  the  recollection  of  the  mental  travail  and  the  many 
thumps  by  which  this  simple  lesson  was  hammered  into 
me — a  lesson  which  the  slightest  suggestion  would  have 
taught  equally  well — to  this  and  to  the  like,  as  well  as  to 
the  desire  to  popularize  this  king  of  all  sports  among  the 
hosts  of  my  countrymen  whose  ideal  of  recreation  is  the 
gentle  pursuit  of  the  angler,  this  book  is  due. 

If  he  who  can  already  cast  a  fly  with  a  single-handed 
rod  will  but  bear  in  mind  this  one  simple  principle,  no 
difficulty  in  casting  equally  well  with  a  salmon-rod  will 
be  encountered,  and  he  can  anticipate  sport  with  con- 
fidence, as  far  as  casting  properly  is  concerned,  even 
though  he  take  a  salmon-rod  in  his  hands  for  the  first 
time  on  the  very  river-bank. 

To  him  who  has  the  art  of  casting  the  fly  still  to  ac- 
quire, let  him  study  the  principles  and  follow  the  system 
of  practice  set  forth  in  Chapter  IX.  of  "  Fly-Rods  and 
Fly-Tackle"  for  two  or  three  weeks  before  his  trip, — 
longer  if  possible, — using,  of  course,  a  salmon-rod  and 
line.  Though  he  may  not  then  be  an  expert,  still  he  will 
be  able  to  cast  respectably — at  any  rate  so  that  inability 
to  present  his  fly  will  cause  no  serious  embarrassment. 

Though  overhead-casting  is  the  usual,  and,  generally 
speaking,  the  best  method,  still  circumstances  not  in- 
frequently arise  under  which  it  is  desirable,  and  some- 
times absolutely  necessary,  to  dispense  with  the  "back- 
cast."     The  overhead-cast  requires  an  arena  behind  even 


122  Tlie  American  Salmon-jisherman. 

less  obstructed  than  that  in  front  of  the  angler.  When 
the  rivers  first  ploughed  their  way  to  the  sea,  the  conveni- 
ence of  the  coming  angler  was  not  at  all  times  duly  con- 
sidered. Not  unfrequently  some  rocky  cliff  or  high  over- 
grown bank  so  obstructs  the  back-cast,  as  to  render  it 
of  possible  advantage  only  to  the  tackle-dealer.  Some 
method,  then,  of  casting  the  fly  which  will  dispense 
with  the  back-cast  is  certainly  desirable. 

Those  who  in  their  youth  have  not  amused  themselves 
by  throwing  an  apple  from  the  end  of  a  switch,  can 
easily  imagine  the  process.  If,  either  from  memory  or  a 
"scientific  use  of  the  imagination,"  a  picture  be  drawn  of' 
what  would  be  done  were  it  desired  to  thus  project  the 
missile  at  an  angle  of  seventy-five  degrees  from  the  hori- 
zon, we  have  it.  By  duplicating  this  motion  with  a  sal- 
mon rod,  the  desired  result  can  be  accomplished. 

With  the  aid  of  a  favorable  wind  I  have  seen  a  very 
long  line  cast  in  this  way;  but  against  the  wind  it  is 
efficient  in  the  hands  of  but  few,  and  that  with  but  a 
short  line.  It  is  somewhat  splashy,  and  wanting  in  that 
finished  neatness  a  trout-fisherman  loves  to  see;  but  the 
splashing  occurs  in  water  already  fished  over,  and  it  cer- 
tainly will  take  fish.  When  the  wind  howls  down  stream, 
and  casting  in  the  ordinary  manner  becomes  a  nuisance 
from  the  effect  of  the  gale  on  the  back-fly,  then,  and 
when  obstacles  prevent  the  ordinary  back-cast,  the  angler 
will  surely  remember  all  the  attention  he  has  given  to 
this  method  of  casting  with  great  satisfaction. 

Perhaps  more  detail  of  direction  may  be  of  service. 
Let  us  assume  the  fly  is  on  the  water,  and  that  the  time 
has  come  to  retrieve  it  for  the  back-cast.  Permitting  the 
fly  to  look  out  for  itself  and  without  taking  it  off  the 


Salmon  fishing — Casting  the  Fly,  123 

water,  the  rod  is  thrown  into  an  almost  but  not  quite 
horizontal  position,  the  butt  pointing  to  the  front  and  in 
the  direction  in  which  the  cast  is  to  be  delivered,  while 
the  tip  of  the  rod  projects  to  the  rear.  We  have  thus 
drawn  the  line  and  fly  over  the  water  toward  us,  and 
have  the  tip  of  the  rod  and  about  the  length  of  the  rod 
of  line  behind  us.  So  far  we  have  copied  the  motions  of 
the  boy  endeavoring  to  cast  his  apple  from  his  switch  to 
the  greatest  possible  distance.  To  so  project  the  apple,  it 
must  not  be  discharged  horizontally,  but  well  toward  the 
sky.     We  continue  to  follow  his  example. 

We  switch  the  rod  upward  with  some  force.  Though 
careful  to  see  that  the  impetus  ceases  before  the  rod  is 
quite  perpendicular,  we  nevertheless  continue  the  motion 
and  ease  the  rod  down  until  it  is  nearly  horizontal,  with 
the  tip  pointing  to  the  front  and  toward  the  place  at 
which  we  wish  the  fly  to  be  delivered.  Perhaps  the 
following  diagram  will  make  this  plainer,  in  which 

A  B  represents  the  rod  before  the  switch; 

A  C,  its  position  when  the  impetus  is  to  cease; 

AE,  its  position  when  the  cast  ends;  and  D  the  place 
at  which  we  aim.  The  arrow  points  at  the  salmon  for 
whose  entertainment  the  cast  is  made. 

By  thus  acting  as  though  we  were  trying  to  hit  the 
moon,  that  portion  of  the  line  which  was  behind  us  is 
thrown  into  a  loop;  and,  if  the  impetus  ceases  at  the 
proper  moment,  this  loop  travels  down  the  line,  lifting 
the  fly  from  the  water  and  projecting  it  forward.  The 
loop  must  be  directed  to  one  side  of  the  line  which  re- 
mains on  the  water,  and  the  leeward  side  must  be  chosen 
if  the  wind  is  not  dead  fair  with  the  cast.  Otherwise 
the  sides  of  the  loop  will  be  blown  against  one  another, 


124 


The  American  Salmon-fisherman. 


and  the  impetus  which  should  have  propelled  the  fly  will 
be  consumed  in  overcoming  the  friction  so  caused — in 
w^hich  case  the  cast  will  be  a  failure. 


\C 


Fig.  17. 


Of  the  many  names  for  this  cast  in  vogue,  the  "  Switch- 
cast  "  seems  to  be  preferable,  since  it  is  most  descriptive. 


CATCHING    THE    FISH. 

Having  in  some  degree  mastered  the  art  of  casting  the 
salmon-fly,  the  question  "  what  next "  naturally  presents 
itself. 

That  "  next "  is  so  to  handle  the  fly,  that  it  shall  excite 
the  acquisitiveness  of  the  fish  to  the  uttermost  without 
arousing  the  counter-septiment  of  suspicion. 

To  this  end  the  current,  which  will  almost  invariably 
be  present  where  the  fly  is  cast,  will  lend  no  trifling  aid. 
Not  only  does  it  buoy  up  the  line  and  fly  and  thus  lessen 
the  labor  of  the  rod  on  the  back-cast,  and  for  something 


Salmon-fishing — Catching  the  Fish,  125 

the  same  reason  facilitate  the  switch-cast  as  well,  but  it 
cooperates  with  the  angler  in  imparting  an  attractive 
motion  to  the  fly,  while  the  wrinkled  surface  interposes  a 
curtain  opaque  to  fish-vision  between  the  angler  and  the 
sharp  eyes  of  the  salmon. 

Both  theory  and  experiment  were  invoked  in  "Fly- 
Rods  and  Fly-Tackle,"  to  show  under  what  conditions  and 
to  what  extent  fish  can  discern  objects  above  the  water. 

It  will  be  sufficient  here  merely  to  recapitulate  these 
results. 

1st.  Objects  situate  above  the  surface  of  the  water  are 
only  visible  to  the  fish  when  that  surface  is  smooth. 

2d.  They  are  only  so  visible  within  a  circular  area,  the 
centre  of  which  lies  directly  over  the  fish,  and  the  diam- 
eter of  which  is  to  the  depth  of  water  above  the  fish  as 
20  is  to  13. 

3d.  Every  object  ten  inches  above  the  water  for  every 
ten  feet  from  the  centre  of  this  circle,  is  visible  within  it 
by  refraction. 

4th.  When  the  surface  of  the  water  is  disturbed  the 
transparent  area  is  blotted  out,  and  the  entire  surface  be- 
comes opaque  to  fish-vision. 

We  all  know  enough  about  fish  to  know  that  we  know 
comparatively  little  about  them.  That  they  all  breathe 
by  taking  water  in  at  the  mouth  and  discharging  it 
through  their  gills,  and  that  they  all  wag  their  tails  when 
they  swim,  we  know.  But  of  the  causes  which  induce 
the  many  peculiarities  of  conduct  which  continually  sur- 
prise and  confound  the  angler,  and  which  we  are  apt  self- 
sufficiently  to  characterize  as  mere  caprice,  we  know 
hardly  more  than  did  the  builders  of  the  Great  Pyramid 


126  The  American  Salmon-Jisherinan. 

when  they,  their  daily  task  completed,  cast  their  baited 
hooks  into  the  yellow  waters  of  the  Nile. 

Whether  it  be  due  to  the  "  survival  of  the  fittest,"  or 
whether  fish  can  and  do  profit  by  the  lessons  of  experi- 
ence, no  one  who  has  cast  his  fly  over  the  trout  of  the 
wilderness,  and  of  much-fished  streams  within  the  confines 
of  civilization,  can  have  failed  to  notice  the  marked  differ- 
ence in  their  susceptibility  to  temptation.  The  one  will 
take  anything  that  has  motion,  though  thrown  to  it  as 
one  would  throw  a  bone  to  a  dog.  The  other  requires 
just  such  a  thing  to  be  tendered  in  just  such  a  way,  or, 
no  matter  how  abundant,  they  will  laugh  the  angler  and 
his  wiles  to  scorn. 

It  cannot  be  because  the  ordinary  perils  of  life,  man 
excepted,  are  less  in  the  wilderness  that  their  temerity  is 
less,  since  natural  enemies  are  there  more  abundant. 
Man  and  his  works,  or  conditions  arising  therefrom, 
must  be  the  cause. 

However  this  may  be,  whether  it  be  due  to  greater 
natural  courage  in  the  salmon,  or  whether  it  be  due  to 
the  fact  that  by  its  long  sojourn  in  the  sea  it  is  cut  off 
from  the  school  of  experience,  it  seems  certain  that  sal- 
mon regard  the  angler  and  his  allurements  with  far  less 
distrust,  and  that  they  may  be  taken  with  a  considerably 
lower  display  of  skill,  than  the  trout  of  our  much- fished 
streams. 

The  weight  of  authority  would  compel  the  belief  that 
salmon  eat  nothing  after  they  enter  fresh  water,  were  it 
not  that  they  are  taken  with  shrimp,  minnow,  and  worm- 
bait  in  some  rivers  where  that  style  of  fishing  is  in  vogue. 
Overawed  by  the  first  consideration,  and  ignorant  of,  or 
ignoring  the  other,  many  have  puzzled  their  own  heads 


Salmonjishing — Catching  the  Fish.  127 

and  those  of  their  neighbors  over  the  question,  Why  does 
the  salmon  take  the  fly  ? 

If  we  are  a  little  more  modest  in  our  generalization, 
and  say  that  salmon  feed  seldom  and  sparingly  after  en- 
tering fresh  water,  it  seems  to  me  we  will  have  a  theory 
more  easily  reconciled  with  the  admitted  facts,  and  one 
in  every  way  quite  as  serviceable.  I  have  heard  that 
that  species  of  man  known  as  a  hostler  chews  a  straw, 
and  that  the  card-sharper  masticates  a  toothpick — both 
with  no  ulterior  end  in  view.  But  they  are  no  work 
from  nature's  hand.  When  animals  in  a  state  of  nature 
seize  an  object,  they  do  so,  as  far  as  I  am  advised,  for  a 
definite  purpose.  Excluding  attack  upon  or  defence 
from  an  enemy,  it  is  either  for  food,  or  to  transport 
the  object  to  another  place  where  it  may  be  of  use  to 
them.  No  intimation  or  suggestion  has  yet  reached  me 
that  salmon  apply  artificial  flies,  or  anything  resembling 
them,  to  any  purpose  whatever.  It  seems  much  simpler 
and  far  less  of  a  tax  on  our  credulity,  to  believe  that 
they  take  them  purely  and  simply  as  things  edible.  That 
of  the  many  salmon  which  see  the  angler's  fly  during  the 
course  of  a  day's  fishing,  but  comparatively  very  few  in- 
deed can  be  induced  to  make  the  slightest  effort  to  take 
it,  seems  to  me  consistent  with  and  confirmatory  of  the 
position  we  have  assumed;  and  that  the  theory  that  sal- 
mon do  feed  in  fresh  water,  though  sparingly,  and  that 
when  they  take  the  fly  they  take  it  as  and  for  food,  have 
at  least  the  weight  of  probability  strongly  in  their  favor. 

During  this  digression  let  us  suppose  the  angler  to 
have  jointed  his  rod  and  prepared  his  cast,  and  that  he 
stands  upon  the  river's  bank  ready  for  action. 


138  The  American  Salmon-fisherman. 

Where  shall  he  cast  ?  The  fish  are  not  impartially  dis- 
seminated through  the  water  as  though  scattered  from 
a  pepper-pot.  In  some  localities  they  abound,  in  some 
they  are  scarce,  while  others  they  avoid  altogether.  This 
all-important  question  fortunately  admits  of  a  very  easy 
answer  .J    Ash  the  goffer. 

Unless  personally  acquainted  with  the  individualities 
of  the  stream  he  is  about  to  fish,  even  the  most  ex2jeri- 
enced  is  guided  in  great  measure  by  reference  to  the 
local  knowledge  of  this  functionary.  Though  an  ac- 
quaintance with  the  haunts  of  salmon  elsewhere  will  aid 
to  locate  them  in  an  unfamiliar  river,  still  it  makes  at 
best  but  a  prima-facie  case.  Places  which  seem  to  fur- 
nish every  requisite  for  a  salmon  elysium,  are  shunned 
for  others  which  apparently  offer  no  special  inducement. 

Nothing  about  salmon-fishing  will  probably  astonish 
the  experienced  trout-fisherman,  if  unprepared,  more  than 
his  first  introduction  to  a  "salmon-pool."  I  say  probably, 
since  it  may  possibly  resemble  what  he  has  been  accus- 
tomed to  call  a  pool.  In  his  mind  the  word  "  pool "  calls 
up  a  vision  of  a  deep  dark  basin  which  looks  as  though  it 
might  have  its  bottom  almost  anywhere  this  side  of  China. 
A  fall  or  heavy  rapid  thunders  into  its  upper  end,  where 
bubbles  of  foam  are  swept  hither  and  thither  by  a  maze 
of  eddies  bordering  a  current  which  projects,  tongue-like, 
toward,  and  dies  a  quiet  death  in  the  centre  of  the  pool. 
Elsewhere  the  surface  is  still  and  oily,  reflecting  every 
rock,  tree,  and  fern  upon  its  margin  with  mirror -like 
fidelity.  A  dim  religious  light — the  light  of  the  cloister 
— ^broods  over  the  scene.  The  air  is  cool  and  damp,  and 
laden  with  the  fragrance  of  the  forest.  It  is  the  abode  of 
peace — so  distant  from,  so  opposed  to  all  that  makes  up 


Salmon-fshing — Catching  the  Fish.  129 

the  daily  struggle  for  life,  that  it  seems  part  of  another 
and  distant  world.  When  the  past  rises  before  him,  what 
angler  does  not  recall  many  such  scenes,  and  the  many 
hours  of  solemn  happiness  which  have  glided  by  among 
them.  They  are  the  chosen  home  of  the  very  genius  of 
our  art. 

With  such  a  picture  in  my  mind,  and  with  such  an- 
ticipations, I  approached  my  first  salmon-pool.  I  looked 
upon  it  with  almost  a  shock  of  disappointed  surprise. 
The  water  was  clear,  from  three  to  six  feet  deep,  and 
moving  with  a  current  of  some  three  miles  an  hour,  which 
covered  the  surface  with  wrinkles  an  inch  or  two  high. 
The  bottom  was  covered  with  stones,  from  the  size  of  a 
nut  to  a  foot  or  two  in  diameter,  swept  clean  by  the 
current.  Below,  quite  a  rapid  could  be  seen;  while  above, 
the  water  deepened  and  became  more  sluggish.  A  clay 
bank  about  eight  feet  high  bounded  one  side,  while  on 
the  other  the  water  deepened  and  spread  to  the  opposite 
shore,  at  least  a  quarter  of  a  mile  distant.  It  was  a  most 
humdrum-looking  affair,  relieved  from  absolute  insipidity 
only  by  the  beauty  of  the  valley  and  of  its  distant  mar- 
gin of  picturesque  hills. 

Though  salmon,  when  waiting  to  ascend  some  heavy 
fall  or  rapid,  do  lie  in  places  which  a  trout-fisherman 
would  call  a  pool,  and  though  they  may  be  taken  there 
with  a  fly,  still  the  great  majority  of  salmon-pools  corre- 
spond in  their  general  features  to  that  described.  They 
are  in  reality  more  or  less  gentle  rapids,  with  a  clean 
and  gravelly  bottom  partially  covered  with  loose  stones, 
boulders,  and  detached  rocks.  Deeper  and  stiller  water 
may  be  immediately  above,  below,  or  on  either  side;  or 
bottoms  more  gravelly,  stony,  or  rocky,  and  with  more 
9 


130  The  American  Salmon-fisherman. 

or  less  current,  may  be  close  at  hand.  For  some  reasons 
known  only  to  themselves,  and  apparently  beyond  the 
skill  of  man  to  divine,  they  select  and  haunt  the  one, 
while  they  utterly  ignore  the  other,  though  seemingly  in 
every  way  preferable.  I  have  conversed  with  many 
salmon-fishermen  in  reference  to  this  peculiarity.  But  I 
have  invariably  found  that  those  whose  opinion  was  en- 
titled to  most  weight,  were  the  most  reluctant  to  assign 
a  cause. 

But  the  angler  has  been  dreaming  salmon-fishing  per- 
haps for  months,  and  he  is  impatient  to  begin.  He  casts 
his  eye  over  the  current  and  its  surroundings,  as  a  general 
surveys  the  field  of  an  anticipated  battle.  He  notes  every 
obstruction  in  or  near  the  water  which  may  become  a  fac- 
tor in  the  struggle  should  he  fasten  a  fish,  and  as  far  as 
possible  decides  in  anticipation  what  he  will  do  in  every 
imaginable  emergency. 

He. then  launches  his  fly  in  a  direction  at  a  right  angle 
to  the  current,  and  guides  it  to  the  surface  of  the  water 
as  lightly  and  with  as  straight  a  line  as  his  skill  will  per- 
mit. When  the  cast  is  complete  his  rod  will  point  across 
the  current.  Retaining  the  rod  in  that  position,  its  tip 
still  pointing  in  the  same  direction,  he  causes  that  part 
of  his  rod  to  vibrate  up  and  down  in  a  perpendicular 
plane  through  an  amplitude  of  about  one  foot,  and  with 
a  rapidity  of  vibration  about  double  that  of  his  pulse. 
When  the  line  where  it  enters  the  water  appears  to 
gently  slap  its  surface  at  every  downward  vibration  of 
the  tip  of  the  rod,  the  motion  is  correct. 

The  fly  is  now  acted  on  by  three  forces:  first,  the  cur- 
rent, tending  to  sweep  it  down  stream;  second,  the  re- 


Salmon-fishing — Catching  the  Fish,  131 

straining  power  of  the  line,  tending  to  hold  it  back;  and 
third,  the  vibratory  motion  of  the  tip  of  the  rod.  The 
result  is  that  the  fly  describes  an  arc  of  a  circle  of  which 
the  tip  of  the  rod  is  the  centre  and  the  line  the  radius, 
and  that  it  travels  this  path  by  a  succession  of  impulses 
and  halts,  timed  by  the  rate  of  vibration  of  the  tip  of 
the  rod.  When  the  fly  moves,  its  motion  draws  the  wings 
and  hackle  together;  when  it  halts,  they  expand.  Thus 
the  parts  mentioned  seem  to  open  and  close  something 
like  an  umbrella,  and  a  very  lifelike  and  attractive  ap- 
pearance is  given  to  the  fly. 

This  is  the  usual,  and  perhaps  the  most  effective  method 
of  displaying  a  salmon-fly.  Some,  however,  allow  the  cur- 
rent to  swing  the  fly  steadily  through  its  orbit,  omitting 
altogether  to  vibrate  the  tip,  while  others  impart  a  rapid 
quiver  to  the  rod,  both  of  which  methods  are  at  times 
successful.  Indeed,  when  a  particular  fish  has  been  lo- 
cated upon  the  capture  of  which  the  angler  has  set  his 
heart,  all  these  methods  may  be  tried  in  succession  with 
profit.  "  If  one  thing  don't  work,  try  another,"  is  the 
angler's  golden  rule.  The  order  in  which  they  are  enu- 
merated suggests  my  opinion  of  the  relative  merit  of 
these  different  systems. 

When  the  current  has  swept  the  fly  until  the  line 
begins  to  approach  a  right-angle  with  the  rod,  the  tip 
may  be  swung  down  stream  and  in  toward  the  bank.  The 
centre  of  motion  is  thus  changed,  and  the  fly  follows  a 
new  course  until  the  time  for  a  new  cast  arrives.  But  per- 
haps a  distinct  enunciation  of  the  object  in  view  will  not 
only  be  more  easily  remembered  than  specific  directions, 
but  will  be  also  much  more  elastic  and  adaptable  to  local 
circumstances  and  conditions  than  any  hard-and-fast  rules. 


The  American  Salmon-fisherman, 


Kow  the  salmon  may  lie  at  one  side  or  the  other,  or  in 
the  middle,  or  in  any  intermediate  part  of  the  pool.  There- 
fore that  fly  which  begins  its  career  on  the  farther  side  of 
the  pool  and  swings  completely  across  it  to  the  nearer 
side,  must  pass  before  the  noses  of  more  salmon,  and  must 
be  more  likely  to  encounter  one  having  a  taste  for  fly, 
than  if  it  traversed  a  more  restricted  path.  The  purpose, 
then,  is  to  display  the  fly  over  as  much  of  the  surface  of 
the  pool  as  is  conveniently  possible,  and  to  make  it  swim 
across  the  current,  instead  of  up  or  down  stream,  in  so 
doing.     The  following  diagram  will  illustrate  this. 


/ 


^^^ 


\ 


\ 


E 


Fig.  18. 

The  arrow  shows  the  direction  of  the  current. 

A  represents  the  angler;   AB,  the  first  position  of  the 


Salmon -fishing — Catching  the  Fish.  133 

rod;  and  2>,  where  the  fly  lights  upon  the  water.  The 
rod  is  retained  in  the  position  AS  until  the  fly  has 
swung  through  the  path  JJ  E.  The  rod  is  then  shifted 
to  the  position  A  C,  and  retained  there  until  the  fly  has 
swung  to  F,  when  a  third  similar  change  may  be  made  if 
salmon  may  be  expected  still  nearer  the  bank.  During 
all  this  time  the  tip  of  the  rod  has  been  vibrating  as 
hereinbefore  described,  if  the  angler  practises  that 
method  of  displaying  his  fly. 

That  the  fly  should  attract  the  attention  of  the  fish  be- 
fore the  leader,  and  more  especially  before  the  line,  is  ob- 
vious. 

If  the  current  is  more  rapid  nearer  the  angler  than  it  is 
where  the  fly  lights,  the  line  will  be  swept  down  stream 
faster  than  the  fly.  A  belly  is  thus  thrown  in  the  line 
which  will  travel  first,  while  the  fly  will  come  tagging 
along  behind  —  clearly  a  very  undesirable  condition  of 
affairs.  The  character  of  the  current  in  this  respect 
should  not  escape  the  attention  of  the  angler.  If  it  is 
unequal,  to  show  the  fly  in  an  attractive  manner  to  a 
more  limited  yet  appreciative  number  of  spectators,  is  far 
better  than  to  pass  it  before  the  nose  of  every  fish  in  the 
river,  if  it  be  only  to  excite  their  derision  and  contempt 
for  the  transparency  of  the  fraud. 

Two  courses  are  open  to  the  angler  under  such  circum- 
stances, alike  in  that  they  embody  the  same  principle, 
though  differing  as  to  the  means  employed.  The  object 
is  to  handicap  the  line  by  giving  the  fly  an  earlier  start 
in  the  race.  This  may  be  done  by  casting  more  obliquely 
down  stream,  or  by  switching  the  tip  of  the  rod  up 
stream  the  moment  the  fly  alights  on  the  water,  and  thus 
throwing  the  belly  of  the  line  up  the  current.     In  either 


134  The  American  SalTnon-Jisherman. 

case  the  fly  is  so  far  ahead  of  the  line  at  the  beginning  of 
its  career,  that  it  cannot  be  overtaken  and  j^assed  by  the 
line. 

Having  completed  one  fruitless  cast,  the  angler  throws 
his  fly  behind  him,  and  while  it  is  on  its  backward  flight 
he  takes  a  step  or  two  forward,  and  then  repeats  the 
effort.  It  is  important  that  the  advance  be  made  either 
at  the  time  indicated  or  before  the  fly  is  taken  from  the 
water,  rather  than  after  the  cast  is  delivered.  In  the 
first  case,  his  advance  aids  in  straightening  out  the  line 
well  behind;  in  the  second,  he  but  loses  a  little  time  in 
waiting  for  the  current  to  take  up  the  slack  line  before 
he  begins  his  back-cast,  and  this  in  barren  water;  but  in 
the  third  case,  his  fly  will  lie  impotent  and  useless,  per- 
haps right  in  the  best  of  the  water,  until  the  current  has 
straightened  the  line  and  command  over  the  fly  is  re- 
gained. 

After  a  fish  is  fastened  two  methods  are  open  to  the 
angler.  In  one,  fish  is  the  main  object;  in  the  other,  fun. 
Personally  I  prefer  the  latter  method — at  all  events  after 
having  taken  the  first  edge  off  my  appetite  by  a  day  or 
two  of  success. 

In  the  first  case  the  angler,  though  always,  except  in 
an  actual  crisis,  handling  the  fish  as  if  lightly  hooked, 
keeps  just  as  close  to  it  as  he  can,  and  gives  it  no  inch  of 
line  that  a  vigorous  use  of  his  legs  will  enable  him  to  re- 
tain. He  also  endeavors  to  keep  below  it,  for  a  salmon  is 
like  a  hog — pull  it  in  one  direction  and  it  usually  tries 
to  go  in  the  other,  and  up  stream  for  a  fish  is  like  up  hill 
for  a  horse. 

In  the  other  case,  the  angler  lets  the  fish  run  as  it  sees 
fit,  and  the  farther  it  goes  within  the  scope  of  his  line, 


Salm(yii-fisMng — Catching  the  Fish.  135 

and  the  more  it  jumps  and  "  cavorts,"  the  better  he  likes 
it.  Wlien  it  approaches  an  obstruction  of  course  he  op- 
poses it  as  best  he  may.  When  some  more  than  usually 
persistent  effort  admonishes  him  that  his  line  has  another 
end  than  that  attached  to  the  leader,  he  puts  his  best  foot 
forward.  Then  he  flies  over  stock  and  stone,  in  the  water 
and  out,  passing  his  rod  to  his  gaffer  where  tooth  and  nail 
may  be  required  to  surmount  some  unusual  difficulty,  and 
resuming  it  when  it  is  overcome,  half  regretful  that  he 
was  so  indulgent,  and  wholly  determined  to  atone  for  it 
if  any  effort  short  of  a  broken  neck  will  do  it. 

I  know  of  no  more  interesting  study  than  the  face  of 
an  angler  under  such  circumstances.  If  a  six-story  build- 
ing were  clattering  about  his  ears  he  could  not  show  more 
earnestness  of  purpose,  while  he  forces  his  way  through 
brush,  and  skips  over  logs  and  rocks,  as  though  the  mar- 
ket-price of  surgeons-plaster  and  arnica  was  not  affected 
by  demand  and  supply.  The  most  apathetic  will  then 
display  a  degree  of  activity  little  short  of  phenomenal. 
He  is  animated  by  the  spirit  of  the  beaver  of  the  story — 
he  does  not  wish  to  climb  a  tree,  nature  has  not  designed 
him  for  that  purpose,  and  he  cannot  do  it;  but  the  boy  is 
on  one  side  and  the  dog  is  on  the  other,  so,  since  no  other 
course  is  open,  up  he  goes. 

Of  course  the  character  of  the  field  of  battle  deter- 
mines to  what  extent  this  method  may  be  followed. 
Though  there  is  great  excitement,  and  consequently  great 
fun,  in  seeing  how  near  the  ragged  edge  of  defeat  can  be 
approached  without  toppling  over  its  brink,  and  though 
a  salmon  of  twenty  pounds,  saved  after  a  contest  in  which 
the  scales  of  fortune  have  been  throughout  in  constant 
oscillation,  is  more  esteemed  than  one  of   twenty -five 


136  The  American  Salmon-fisherman. 

which  has  been  prematurely  scooped  from  the  water  by 
a  lucky  chance  and  the  skill  of  the  gaffer,  still  it  is  some- 
what questionable  whether  we  who  follow  this  method 
are  justly  entitled  to  plume  ourselves  as  being  so  much 
more  sportsmanlike  than  those  who  do  not.  We  take 
more  chances,  it  is  true,  and  we  lose  more  fish;  but  we 
do  the  first  only  when  we  think  we  see  a  clear  way  out  of 
the  difliculty,  and  the  latter  is  quite  involuntary.  Really 
the  most  aesthetic  in  practice,  if  not  in  theory,  takes  pre- 
cious good  care  to  keep  the  probabilities  of  success  de- 
cidedly in  his  favor. 

Thus  far  our  friend  has  fished  from  the  bank.  He  will 
hereafter  use  a  canoe;  and  since  the  greater  part  of  the 
reader's  fishing  will  probably  be  so  done,  and  since  much 
of  what  follows  will  be  equally  applicable  to  fishing  from 
the  bank,  and  where  it  is  not  that  fact  will  be  quite  ob- 
vious, we  will  conclude  in  that  way. 

The  angler  seats  himself  near  the  middle  of  the  canoe 
upon  a  box  or  other  improvised  seat.  It  will  grow  no 
softer  with  use,  and  he  will  by  no  means  regret  it  if 
he  has  provided  some  form  of  cushion,  though  it  be  but 
an  old  flour-bag  to  be  stuffed  with  moss  or  hay.  Both 
ends  of  the  canoe  are  alike  in  form,  and  either  may  and 
will  be  used  as  the  bow  as  convenience  may  require. 
Still,  since  a  name  is  necessary,  we  w'ill  call  the  end  he 
faces  the  stern.  His  gaffer  occupies  that  end,  his  paddle, 
gaff,  and  setting-pole  within  convenient  reach.  He  is  the 
captain,  and  with  him  alone  will  the  angler  habitually 
communicate  and  consult,  and  to  him  pay  the  hire  of 
men  and  boat.  The  bow  is  the  station  of  one  usually  the 
junior  in  years  and  experience  of  the  gaffer,  to  whom  he 


Salmon-fishing — Catching  the  Fish.  137 

looks  for  his  orders,  and  with  whom  alone  he  will  con- 
verse, unless  directly  addressed. 

The  canoe  is  pushed  from  the  bank.  The  gaffer  con- 
sults his  employer  as  to  the  pools  which  are  disengaged, 
and  advises  him,  in  the  absence  of  positive  orders,  which 
one  to  try  first. 

When  the  head  of  the  pool  is  reached  the  gaffer 
directs  his  subordinate  to  anchor;  which  being  done  as 
quietly  as  possible,  he  seats  himself  on  the  bottom  of  the 
canoe  so  as  to  be  out  of  the  angler's  way,  facing  its 
stern.  A  few  moments  should  be  suffered  to  elapse  for 
any  alarm  occasioned  by  the  approach  of  the  canoe  to 
subside — an  interval  very  appropriate  to  freshly  charging 
and  lighting  the  pipe  of  him  that  smokes. 

Studying  the  current  as  before,  and  being  guided  by 
the  same  general  principles,  we  will  assume  that  the 
current  permits  the  first  cast  to  be  delivered  almost  at  a 
right  angle  to  the  canoe. 

In  the  following  diagram  the  arrow  shows  the  direc- 
tion of  the  current;  A  is  the  angler,  B  the  gaffer,  and 
O  the  subordinate.  A  1)  \^  the  position  of  the  rod  at 
the  completion  of  the  first  cast,  and  ^  where  the  fly  then 
lights.  The  rod  is  retained  in  that  position,  with  the  tip 
a  little,  and  but  a  little,  elevated  above  the  horizontal, 
until  the  current  has  swept  the  fly  to  F,  during  which 
the  tip  is  vibrated  as  before  if  the  angler  adopts  that 
method  of  displaying  his  fly. 

When  the  fly  reaches  F  the  rod  is  shifted  to  the  po- 
sition A  G,  and  vibrated  until  the  fly  reaches  If.  The 
fly  has  thus  traversed  the  pool  from  F  to  II,  and  the 
flrst  cast  is  complete.  Since  the  casting  was  toward  the 
left,  the  rod  was  thrown  behind  over  the  right  shoulder, 


138 


The  American  Salmon-fisherman, 


'K 


!e 


II 


Fig.  19> 


Salmon-JlsJdng— Catching  the  Fish. 


189 


the  right  hand  was  above  the  reel,  and  the  left  was  upon 
the  butt.  He  now  changes  hands,  grasping  the  butt 
with  the  right  hand,  the  left  above  the  reel,  and,  throw- 
ing his  rod  over  the  left  shoulder  for  the  back-cast, 
delivers  his  fly  at  7,  guides  it  around  to  the  vicinity  of  F, 
in  the  manner  already  described.  The  second  cast  is 
now  complete,  and  the  fly  has  swept  the  pool  from  E  to 
I.  Though  this,  if  well  done,  will  usually  be  sufficient 
to  demonstrate  the  presence  or  absence  of  a  fish  inclined 


Fig.  20. 

to  rise,  still  it  may  be  repeated  once.  Beyond  this  it  is 
seldom  worth  while  to  go,  unless  some  resting-place  es- 
pecially favored  by  the  fish  is  under  the  cast. 

The  hands  are  now  shifted  as  before,  the  line  length- 
ened six  or  eight  feet,  and  the  fly  delivered  at  K,  and 
the  first  process  is  repeated  in  all  things  until  the  fly  has 
been  displayed  from  J^Tto  a  point  beyond  I',  and  this  is 
repeated  again  and  again,  in  default  of  a  rise,  until  all 
the  line  is  out  that  the  angler  can  conveniently  swing. 


140  The  American  Salmon-fisherman. 

The  fly  will  then  have  traversed  the  pool  from  a  line 
A  abreast  the  canoe  on  one  side  (see  preceding  figure), 
to  a  line  B  abreast  of  the  canoe  on  the  other  side,  fol- 
lowing a  succession  of  circular  arcs  C  in  so  doing,  of 
which  the  angler  is  the  centre,  and  the  resijective  radii  of 
which  are  the  length  of  the  rod  plus  the  quantity  of  line 
in  use  at  the  time.  Thus  every  fish  in  that  quite  extended 
area  has  had  a  chance  at  the  fly  and  can  complain  of  no  par- 
tiality on  the  part  of  the  angler,  which  is  the  end  in  view. 

Having  thus  described  with  his  fly  the  most  distant 
arc  conveniently  possible,*  he  begins  to  reel  in.    Instantly 

*  The  longest  cast  of  record  witli  a  salmon-rod  in  this  country  is 
131  feet,  by  Mr.  H.W.  Hawes,  at  Central  Park,  October,  1884,  ^vith  an 
eighteen-foot  split-bamboo  rod.  In  Enn;land,  Major  J,  P.  Traherne  is 
credited  with  a  cast  of  136  feet.  Mr.  Hawes  stood  about  30  feet  from 
the  bank,  upon  a  platform  raised  one  foot  above  the  water,  and  east 
parallel  with  the  shore.  He  was  credited  only  with  the  actual  dis- 
tance which  intervened  between  the  edge  of  the  platform  and  where 
his  fly  struck  the  water,  measured  upon  a  graduated  rope  stretched 
perfectly  straight,  close  beside  which  he  cast.  A  very  few  inches 
would  mark  the  limit  of  possible  error.  Since  we  are  informed 
that  the  distance  credited  to  Major  Traherne  was  determined,  not 
by  the  distance  he  actually  covered,  but  by  the  distance  which  it 
was  assumed  that  he  had  covered  determined  by  straightening  his 
line  and  measuring  that,  I  am  decidedly  inclined  to  regard  Mr. 
Hawes'  cast  as  the  longer.  Of  all  the  fly-casting  I  have  ever  seen,  I 
consider  this  performance  of  Mr.  Hawes  as  the  most  remarkable. 
Not  so  much  does  the  enormous  length  of  the  cast  induce  this  opin- 
ion, as  the  manner  in  which  it  was. done,  and  the  physique  of  the 
man  who  did  it.  Mr.  Hawes  was  at  that  time  a  man  of  very  slender 
build,  and  with  a  wrist  as  slight  as  that  of  a  woman.  Rod  and  line 
worked  in  his  hands  Avith  the  precision  of  a  faultless  machine. 
Even  when  at  the  extreme  of  his  cast,  his  back-fly  was  some  25  feet 
above  the  water.  Taking  all  the  circumstances  into  consideration, 
it  was  certainly  a  most  remarkable  triumph  of  skill  over  matter. 


Salmon-fishing — Catching  the  Fish.  141 

the  gaffer  gives  the  order,  the  anchor  is  raised  clear  of 
the  bottom,  the  canoe  drops  down  with  the  current  until 
the  gaffer  thinks  the  first  cast  made  from  the  new  position 
Avill  just  match  on  to  the  last  cast  from  the  other,  when 
he  orders  the  anchor  down,  and  the  fishing  is  resumed  in 
the  same  manner.  Thus  bv  alternately  anchoring  and 
dropping  the  canoe  down  with  the  current,  the  pool  is 
fished  from  end  to  end — a  distance  which  may  possibly 
be  a  hundred  yards  or  even  more. 

Let  us  assume,  as  is  often  the  case,  that  no  salmon  has 
been  raised  during  this  excursion.  But  many  trout  have 
assuredly  been  taken.  Though  this  will  give  little  plea- 
sure, since  trout  in  a  salmon-stream  are  like  chubs  in  a 
trout-stream — mere  vermin — still  it  may  and  should  be 
made  of  great  value  to  the  trout-fisherman.  The  greater 
his  experience  and  past  success  in  trout-fishing  with  the 
fly,  the  more  need  has  he  of  the  lesson  which  may  then 
be  learned. 

The  moment  the  skilled  trout-fisherman  sees  a  dis- 
turbance in  the  water  near  his  fly,  he  retracts  it — he 
"strikes"  as  instinctively  and  with  as  little  conscious 
special  volition  as  when  he  breathes. 

This  habit,  however  excellent  in  trout -fishing,  is  a  fatal 
error  in  salmon-fishing,  and  must  be  overcome.  When  a 
salmon  so  rises  as  to  disturb  the  surface  of  the  w^ater,  it 
manifests  its  presence  Jong  before  it  has  touched  the  fly. 
If  the  angler  then  strikes,  in  the  trout-fisher's  sense  of  the 
term,  he  simply  snatches  the  fly  from  the  astonished  fish, 
which  will  probably  return  to  its  lair  in  a  state  of  disgust 
which  no  subsequent  blandishment  will  remove. 

Possibly  some  of  the  more  wicked  of  us  have  in  our 
boyhood  placed   an  attractive  package   in   the   way  of 


142  The  American  Salmon-fisherman. 

passers-by,  upon  which  we  still  maintained  a  lien  through 
a  string  leading  to  our  place  of  concealment.  The  way- 
farer eyes  the  lucky  find  and  stoops  to  make  it  his,  when 
it  vanishes  under  his  fingers  in  obedience  to  a  timely 
jerk  upon  the  cord.  Any  one  who  has  been  once  so 
fooled  w^ill  appreciate  the  feelings  of  the  salmon  when 
treated  in  the  same  manner,  and  |hose  who  have  not  can 
easily  imagine  them.     The  cases  are  exactly  parallel. 

The  beginner,  then,  should  vow  in  the  most  solemn 
manner  that  he  will  not  strike,  and  avail  himself  of  every 
opportunity  which  the  trout  may  offer  to  school  himself 
into  making  his  resolution  good.  It  is  no  easy  matter  to 
overcome  a  habit  which  has  become  instinctive.  He  will 
find  that  even  with  the  promise  warm  upon  his  lips  he 
will  break  it;  and  that  v/hile  blaming  himself  and  re- 
newing his  assurances,  he  will  repeat  the  offence,  until  he 
is  utterly  ashamed  of  and  disgusted  with  himself.  But 
perseverance  conquers  all  things,  this  habit  included. 

There  is  a  wide  divergence  of  opinion  among  salmon- 
experts  as  to  whether  the  fish  should  be  struck  or  not, 
some  advocating  it,  while  others  equally  skilled  protest 
against  it  as  pernicious.  But  it  seems  to  me  this  differ- 
ence is  apparent  rather  than  real.  Certainly  no  one 
would  counsel  the  demonstration  of  the  trout-fisherman — 
that  is,  a  sudden  retraction  of  the  fly — at  the  first  indica- 
tion of  the  near  presence  of  the  fish.  I  believe  just  as 
few  would  oppose  an  effort  to  imbed  the  hook  after  it 
was  actually  in  the  salmon's  mouth.  The  advocates  of 
the  first  method  seem  to  address  their  attention  to  the 
time  when  the  salmon  actually  has  the  fly  in  his  mouth, 
and  say  "  Strike  by  all  means."     The  others  appear  to 


Salmon-fishing — Catching  the  Fish.  143 

consider  the  period  before  the  fly  has  been  grasped,  and 
say  "  To  strike  is  ruin."  But  if  pressed,  both  will  proba- 
bly agree — the  one  that  they  by  no  means  wish  to  be 
understood  to  counsel  the  strike  before  the  fish  has  taken 
the  fly,  and  the  others  that  a  moderate  demonstration,  if 
postponed  till  then,  can  do  no  harm. 

After  collating  and  comparing  what  I  have  read,  what 
I  have  heard,  and  what  I  have  done,  it  seems  to  me  that 
the  beginner  who  is  guided  by  the  following  precepts 
cannot  go  far  wrong. 

That  a  salmon-rod  is  moved  in  fishing  very  much  less 
than  a  trout-rod,  which  is  in  almost  constant  motion,  that 
the  casts  are  much  less  frequent,  and  that  it  is  held  in  a 
much  more  horizontal  position  v/hen  the  fly  is  working, 
have  probably  been  already  remarked.  Now  if  it  be  re- 
solved that  no  matter  what  a  salmon  may  do,  even  though 
he  stand  on  his  nose  and  direct  his  tail  to  every  point  of 
the  compass  in  succession — that  under  no  circumstances 
will  the  angler  respond  in  any  way  until  the  tip  of  the 
rod  is  pulled  down  or  line  is  drawn  from  the  reel;  and 
that  then  he  will  limit  himself  merely  to  raising  the  rod — 
or  rather  act  as  though  that  was  the  intention,  when  the 
result  will  be  that  the  rod  will  bend  and  double  up — he 
will  not  only  have  done  all  in  the  way  of  striking  which 
is  either  necessary  or  advisable,  but  he  will  have  followed 
the  actual  practice  of  the  majority  of  those  who  advocate 
as  well  as  of  those  who  deprecate  the  strike. 

When  the  tip  of  the  rod  is  pulled  downward,  or  when 
line  is  drawn  from  the  reel,  since  both  are  inanimate, 
some  extrinsic  force  must  be  the  cause.  That  cause  must 
be  the  salmon;  and  since  it  has  no  other  prehensile  organ, 
the  fly  must  then  be  in  its  mouth.     If  we  then  bend  the 


144  The  American  Balnfion-fisherman. 

rod,  which  is  necessarily  the  result  of  an  effort  on  our 
part  to  lift  it  since  the  salmon  holds  the  end  of  the  tip 
down,  its  action  as  what  a  mechanic  might  term  an 
automatic  pressure-regulator  comes  in  play.  This  is  one 
of  the  most  valuable  functions  of  the  fly-rod;  and,  if  it 
has  a  good  even  bend,  it  is  almost  as  perfect  an  instru- 
ment within  its  sphere  as  is  the  human  hand  in  its  wider 
range  of  usefulness.  If  it  has  not  been  done  before, 
every  effort  to  release  the  fly  after  the  bend  has  been 
given  to  the  rod  will  usually  be  futile.  If  the  point  of 
the  hook  is  already  in  contact  with  the  tissue,  the  elas- 
ticity of  the  rod  holds  it  there;  while  if  not,  it  will  prob- 
ably find  a  hold  on  its  way  out  of  the  fish's  mouth.. 

Here  we  find  another  reason  for  the  course  already  ad- 
vised in  selecting  a  rod — that  the  rod  be  actually  bent  in 
the  shop,  and  that  a  true  curve  be  insisted  on.  Not  only 
in  casting  the  fly  is  such  a  rod  superior  to  one  defective 
in  this  particular,  but  also  in  the  most  important  function 
of  bridging  over  by  its  elasticity  the  intervals  when  the' 
angler  has,  through  some  unexpected  movement  of  the 
fish,  for  the  moment  lost  command  of  his  line.  It  is  only 
after  a  fish  has  altered  its  course  that  the  angler  can  de- 
tect the  motion,  and  were  the  rod  stiff  the  line  would  be 
slack  until  the  angler  perceived  the  change  and  could 
meet  it  by  resorting  to  his  reel.  But  though  the  angler 
cannot,  the  rod  can  detect  the  manoeuvre  at  its  very  in- 
ception, and  by  its  elasticity  neutralize  the  danger  and 
give  the  angler  time  to  checkmate  it. 

A  rod  which  bends  only  at  the  tip  can  pick  up  but  a 
very  limited  quantity  of  slack  line;  while  one  which 
bends  locally  instead  of  uniformly  has  but  the  elasticity 
of  the  bending  portion  available  for  the  emergency,  in- 


Salmon-fishing — Catching  the  Fish,  145 

stead  of  the  elasticity  of  the  entire  rod.  It  is  clear, 
therefore,  that  that  rod  which  shows  a  true  curve 
throughout  its  length  must  be  the  most  efficient  in  this 
important  respect. 

Salmon  and  trout  differ  widely  in  their  methods  of 
taking  the  artificial  fly.  The  trout  dashes  at  the  fly, 
seizes  it,  detects  the  fraud,  and  ejects  it,  all  in  an  instant. 
The  time  when  its  presence  is  manifest  and  the  time 
when  it  has  the  fly  in  its  mouth,  are  substantially  syn- 
chronous. The  salmon  usually  attacks  with  much  more 
deliberation.  It  rises  above  the  fly,  making  the  water 
boil  in  the  act,  before  touching  it.  After  the  fly  has 
been  taken,  though  the  flavor  may  not  be  all  that  has 
been  anticipated,  still  it  thinks  there  is  time  enough  to 
pass  on  that  after  it  has  returned  with  the  fly  to  its  lair. 
Neither  in  taking  the  fly,  nor  in  ejecting  it,  does  it  ex- 
hibit the  prompt  resolution  of  the  trout,  though  after 
that  there  is  little  lack  of  enterprise  to  complain  of. 
Since  then  the  preliminary  gymnastics  of  the  salmon  may 
be  so  easily  mistaken  for  the  subsequent  stage  of  its  pro- 
ceedings when  it  has  actually  seized  the  fly,  and  since  a 
little  procrastination  on  the  part  of  the  angler  does  no 
harm,  error,  if  any,  should  be  on  the  side  of  the  latter. 
If  he  strikes  at  the  rise  as  he  would  with  a  trout,  he  can 
say  good-by  to  that  fish,  for  he  will  see  it  no  more; 
while  if  he  does  absolutely  nothing  whatever,  the  salmon 
will  hook  itself,  because  of  its  manner  of  taking  the  fly, 
more  than  half  the  time. 

I  have  dwelt  on  this  point  at  sufficient  length,  I  trust, 

to  impress  its  importance  upon  the  beginner.    The  greater 

his  skill  and  experience  as  a  trout-fisherman,  the  more 

certain  he  is  to  err  in  this  respect  if  left  to  his  own  de- 

10 


146  The  American  Salmon-fisherman. 

vices.  In  all  else  his  previous  schooling  will  be  invalu- 
able, but  in  this  matter  the  difference  is  radical.  It  is  an 
absolute  condition -precedent  to  success. 

There  is  another  caution  to  be  borne  in  mind.  Keep 
the  hands  off  the  line  at  all  times  when  the  fly  is  upon 
the  water.  With  a  long  line  and  a  weak  click,  it  may  be 
necessary  to  hold  the  line  when  picking  the  fly  off  the 
water  for  the  back-cast.  But  the  moment  the  fly  touches 
the  water  again,  the  line  should  be  free  to  run  without  the 
slightest  check.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  in  the 
method  of  fishing  herein  described,  and  believed  to  be 
the  most  seductive,  the  rod  is  held  so  nearly  horizontal 
that  at  times  the  line  makes  but  a  small  angle  with  it. 
If  a  salmon  then  takes  the  fly,  and  the  line  is  held  so  that 
it  cannot  render,  a  sharp  heavy  jerk  is  given  against  an 
almost  rigid  resistance.  The  fly  will  then  be  taken  from 
the  leader  as  you  would  pick  a  berry  from  a  bush — a 
state  of  affairs  in  which  it  is  blessed  neither  to  give  nor 
to  receive.  If  the  tip  of  the  rod  is  habitually  well  ele- 
vated so  that  the  line  leads  from  it  at  an  approximation 
to  a  right  angle,  the  practice  of  holding  the  line  against 
the  handle  is  not  so  reprehensible.  The  elasticity  of  the 
rod  will  then  so  soften  the  asperity  of  the  jerk  that  it 
may  be  withstood.  But  even  then  I  cannot  see  that  it 
serves  any  useful  purpose,  while,  should  the  salmon  make 
a  sudden  run  before  the  line  is  released,  disaster  is  cer- 
tain. 

In  salmon-fishing  the  fly  is  worked  below  rather  than 
on  the  surface.  It  may  be  taken  either  with  no  apparent 
disturbance  of  the  water,  or  in  the  middle  of  a  boil,  as 


Salmon-Jishhig — Catching  the  Fish.  147 

though  a  volcano  was  about  to  burst  forth;  or  the  salmon 
may  roll  like  a  porpoise,  throwing  itself  more  or  less  out 
of  water,  seizing  the  fly  as  it  turns,  and  bearing  it  down- 
ward with  it.  I  shall  never  forget  one  which  rose  as 
though  propelled  from  a  gun,  took  my  fly  en  route,  and 
soared  through  the  air  like  an  acrobat  with  it  in  its 
mouth.  Appearances  are  often  deceitful,  but  at  the 
moment  it  seemed  to  my  astonished  eyes  about  ten  feet 
long,  and  as  though  it  was  just  from  a  polishing-wheel. 

Any  one  of  these  demonstrations,  except  the  latter, 
may  occur  without  the  fly  being  touched.  Though  it  is 
then  usual  to  say  that  the  salmon  has  missed  the  fly,  it 
seems  to  me  a  misuse  of  the  term.  I  have  too  profound 
a  respect  for  the  physical  ability  of  the  salmon  to  believe 
that  an  earnest  endeavor  on  its  part  to  take  the  fly  is 
ever  attended  with  failure,  unless  it  be  in  very  heavy 
water.  When  the  fly  is  not  taken,  it  seems  to  me  quite 
safe  to  consider  it  a  case  of  change  of  purpose  rather 
than  an  abortive  effort,  and  to  act  accordingly.  Then 
work  the  fly  in  the  spot  where  the  rise  occurred,  drawing 
it  up  stream  about  a  foot,  and  allowing  the  current  to  set 
it  back,  and  this  for  about  ten  or  twelve  seconds.  This 
will  sometimes  act  like  a  red  rag  on  a  bull,  and  tantalize 
the  fish  into  fresh  and  decisive  action.  But  the  probabil- 
ity is  that  something  is  wrong  about  the  fly,  or  that  a 
sight  of  the  angler  or  his  rod  has  done  the  mischief.  Do 
not  then  cast  at  it  again,  or  reel  in  the  line,  but  draw  it 
through  the  rings,  allowing  the  slack  to  fall  on  the  bot- 
tom of  the  canoe,  until  the  fly  can  be  reached.  Thus  the 
exact  range  of  the  fish  will  be  preserved,  which  would 
have  become  a  matter  of  guesswork  had  the  line  been 
taken  in  by  the  reel  in  the  usual  manner.     Change  the 


148  The  American  Salmon-Jisherman. 

fly  to  a  smaller  one  of  the  same  variety,  allow  three 
minutes  by  the  watch  to  elapse  if  the  fish  is  small,  and 
five  if  it  is  large,  and  then  have  at  him  again. 

Do  not  cast  at  the  fish,  hut  off  to  one  side  so  that  the 
current  will  swing  the  fly  over  it  as  before.  Indeed,  un- 
less the  angler  is  really  a  first-rate  caster,  and  unless 
every  condition  favors  a  really  pretty  cast,  I  doubt  the 
expediency  of  ever  casting  directly  at  a  fish  where  the 
current  is  such  that  a  fly  cast  to  one  side  will  be  swept 
over  it.  A  current  is  an  able  ally,  and  it  and  the  angler 
combined  can  present  the  fly  in  a  far  more  attractive 
manner  than  can  either  alone. 

Should  the  fly  be  again  refused,*  into  the  canoe  with  it 
as  before,  change  to  one  quite  different  in  appearance, 
rest  the  fish  once  more,  and  then  tender  the  new  fly  in 
the  same  manner.  This  can  be  continued  until  either  the 
angler  or  the  fish  has  had  enough  of  it,  for  the  angler 
may  be  morally  certain  that  the  salmon  has  returned  to 
and  will  remain  at  the  place  from  which  he  first  rose. 
While  it  is  quite  true  that  a  salmon  will  at  times  take  a 
fly  it  has  risen  to,  but  otherwise  ignored,  without  any  in- 
terval of  rest  between  the  casts  beyond  such  as  is  neces- 
sarily incidental  thereto,  still  if  such  a  cast  does  fail,  it  is 
pretty  certain  to  change  the  suspicions  of  the  fish  into  a 
settled  distrust  which  every  subsequent  effort  to  remove 
will  be  futile.  The  other  method,  it  is  believed,  will  be 
found  far  more  profitable  in  the  long-run. 

There  is  nothing  in  salmon-fishing  more  interesting,  at 
least  to  me,  than  a  direct  issue  of  this  kind.  The  capture 
of  no  other  fish  of  anything  like  its  size  gives  the  pleas- 

*  See  p.  101,  et  seq. 


Salmon  fishing — C' itching  the  Fish.  149 

ure  of  one  which  is  the  successful  result  of  such  a  con- 
test, since  the  angler  may  regard  it  as  due  to  his  own 
skill,  and  as  unalloyed  by  any  mere  fluke  of  fortune. 
Should,  however,  half  or  three  quarters  of  an  hour  be  thus 
spent  in  vain, — offering  each  fly  but  once,  and  every  time 
with  an  interval  of  rest  between, — he  may  as  well  give  it 
up  and  fish  the  pool  down  to  its  end.  Then,  if  nothing 
has  been  taken,  and  after  the  lapse  of  an  hour  or  so,  if 
the  old  locality  be  approached  with  the  greatest  caution, 
a  different  issue  will  often  result. 

Sometimes  a  wake  like  that  of  a  steamboat  will  follow 
the  fly,  though  no  fish  be  visible.  It  is  a  sure  indication 
of  the  presence  of  a  salmon,  and  a  quite  reliable  symptom 
from  which  to  infer  its  state  of  mind.  Either  the  fly  is 
too  large,  or  too  conspicuous,  or  the  fish  has  seen  the 
angler  or  his  rod.  In  any  event,  it  is  safe  to  conclude 
that  mistrust  governs  its  conduct.  Then  let  the  angler 
sit  if  he  has  been  standing,  change  his  fly  to  a  smaller 
one  of  the  same  kind,  cast  in  the  direction  and  with  the 
same  length  of  line  as  before,  and  work  his  rod  as  near 
the  water  as  is  conveniently  possible.  It  is  not  always 
easy  to  induce  better  conduct  on  the  part  of  a  salmon 
which  has  thus  misbehaved;  still  that  it  may  sometimes 
be  done  justifies  the  effort. 

Though  the  normal  condition  of  the  salmon  is  not  one 
of  such  chronic  distrust  as  that  of  the  trout,  yet  it  will  do 
no  harm  to  act  as  though  such  was  the  case,  and  as  though 
the  rule  was  the  exception  and  the  exception  was  the 
rule.  The  best  fish  are  the  most  wary,  and  he  who  best 
disguises  the  connection  between  his  fly  and  his  leader, 
and  who  keeps  himself  and  his  rod  most  out  of  sight,  will 
be  the  most  successful. 


150  The  American  Salmon-fisheTman. 

After  a  salmon  is  fastened,  though  its  play  is  horse- 
play— yes,  wild-horse-play — compared  to  that  of  a  trout, 
the  skilled  trout-fisherman  will  feel  no  apprehension  that 
the  struggle  will  eventuate  in  his  disfavor.  It  is  not  till 
taught  by  the  logic  of  events  that  he  learns  that  one  is 
never  sure  of  a  salmon  until  it  has  been  knocked  on  the 
head.  When  a  trout  takes  a  fly  it  is  usually  in  earnest, 
and,  if  the  angler  is  prompt  to  respond,  a  good  solid  hold 
for  the  hook  is  generally  secured.  It  seems  to  me  that 
this  is  nothing  nearly  so  likely  to  be  the  case  in  salmon- 
fishing.  The  hold  of  the  hook  is  often  by  but  a  mere 
shred  of  skin,  and  he  who  assumes  that  his  lien  on  each 
fish  depends  upon  a  no  more  secure  tenure  will  find  his 
profit  therein. 

The  same  patient  skill  and  the  very  same  tactics  that 
worry  the  stanchest  trout  to  exhaustion,  will  conquer  the 
largest  salmon.  More  time  will  be  required,  and  more 
promptness,  coolness,  and  resolution,  but  the  process  is 
the  same. 

Two  defences  are  almost  as  common  to  the  salmon  as 
the  fins  on  their  back,  which  trout  employ  but  sparingly. 
They  jump  and  they  "jig"  with  an  energy  that  leaves 
nothing  to  be  desired — except  that  they  will  stop. 

A  notion  prevails  that  when  a  fish  jumps  from  the 
water  it  may  fall  on  the  leader  and  part  it  unless  the  line 
is  slacked — indeed  some  claim  this  to  be  the  very  object 
of  the  manoeuvre.  I  am  quite  at  a  loss  to  see  how  this 
miracle  is  to  be  performed.  Should  a  man  rigidly  secure 
one  end  of  a  rope  long  enough  to  reach  the  ground,  and 
tie  the  other  around  his  waist,  and  should  he  then  jump 
from  a  window,  by  what  conceivable  gyration  conducted 


Salmon-fishing — Catching  the  Fish.  151 

in  mid-air  can  he  part  the  rope  ?  To  break  a  rope,  or  a 
leader,  action  and  reaction — a  pull  and  a  rigid  resistance 
to  pull  against — are  equally  necessary. 

Again,  the  voice  of  authority  is  almost  a  unit  in  assert- 
ing, if  not  that  the  leap  of  the  salmon  is  an  effort  to  strike 
the  leader  with  its  tail,  at  all  events  that  if  it  does  suc- 
ceed in  so  striking  the  leader  it  will  surely  be  broken. 
Though  this  is  not  absurd  upon  its  face  like  the  other, 
still  I  am  by  no  means  convinced  tliat  it  is  much  more 
likely  to  happen.  By  no  preliminary  remarks  does  the 
salmon  advise  the  angler  that  it  is  about  to  spring  into 
the  air.  The  whole  performance  is  begun  and  ended  so 
quickly  that  it  is  difficult  to  say  just  what  does  take  place. 
But  1  have  never  been  able  to  see  a  salmon  slash  its  tail 
about  when  in  the  air,  in  a  manner  which  would  imperil 
a  leader  in  the  slightest  degree.  The  supreme  effort  is 
that  which  impels  it  into  the  air.  After  that  the  motion 
of  its  tail  is  within  very  narrow  limits  when  measured 
from  side  to  side.  Certainly  a  line  more  or  less  sub- 
merged in  water,  with  a  curve  already  in  it  from  the 
motion  of  the  fish  or  the  current,  and  backed  by  a  flexi- 
ble rod,  can  stand  being  pushed  aside  a  few  inches  with- 
out any  great  danger  to  its  integrity. 

As  far  as  I  know,  the  authorities  all  advise — nay  insist 
— that  when  a  salmon  jumps  the  tip  of  the  rod  should  be 
lowered  or  the  leader  will  be  broken.  That  the  line  is 
thus  slackened  neat-  the  fish  so  that  it  must  attack  a  loose 
rather  than  a  tight  line,  is  the  theory  as  I  understand  it. 

I  disagree  with  this,  not  only  for  the  reasons  already 
given,  but  for  others  as  well.  Between  the  angler  and  the 
fish  intervenes  the  current,  always  greedy  for  slack  line. 
The  leap  of  a  salmon  is  begun  and  ended  in  less  than  two 


152  The  Am erican  Sahnon-fisli erm a n. 

seconds  by  the  watch.  Such  slack  as  the  lowering  of  the 
rod  may  give  is  at  once  appropriated  by  the  current,  and 
whatever  share  the  fish  may  gain  must  first  be  won  from 
the  current.  This  takes  time.  We  do  not  fish  by  elec- 
tricity— at  least  not  yet. 

In  short,  unless  the  fish  is  close  at  hand,  I  cannot  see 
how  any  demonstration  that  the  angler  can  make  by  low- 
ering the  tip  of  his  rod  after  the  leap  of  the  salmon  has 
begun,  can  by  any  possibility  be  transmitted  to  the  scene 
of  action  in  time  to  affect  the  result  in  the  slightest 
degree. 

The  cardinal  rule  for  playing  fish  of  all  kinds  to  a  suc- 
cessful issue  is — keep  a  tight  line;  nor  can  I  regard  the 
leap  of  a  salmon  as  justifying  a  departure  from  this  rule. 
For  a  long  time  it  has  been  my  practice  to  do  absolutely 
nothing  under  such  circumstances,  exce23t  to  look  on  and 
admire,  unless  the  fish  is  very  near — say  twenty  yards  or 
less.  Then  I  sometimes  do  lower  the  rod  a  little — not 
because  I  fear  the  fish  will  fall  on  the  leader  or  breal^  it 
with  its  tail,  but  simply  because  it  may  require  more  line 
to  reach  the  place  where  it  regains  the  water,  and  as  the 
demand  is  sudden  it  may  be  well  to  aid  the  click  a  little. 
In  so  doing  either  I  have  been  singularly  fortunate,  or  I 
am  justly  .entitled  to  claim  that  the  fallacy  of  the  time- 
honored  theory  and  practice  has  been  demonstrated. 

Of  all  the  performances  of  the  salmon  which  the 
angler  must  encounter,  none  demoralizes  me  like  "jig- 
ging." I  am  not  aware  that  it  is  so  especially  danger- 
ous, but  its  moral  effect  is  immense  all  the  same.  For 
every  other  move  of  the  salmon  the  angler  has  an  active 
response,  but  against  this  passive  endurance  is  his  only 


Salmon-fishing — Catching  the  Fish.  153 

resource.  Plow  it  is  done  I  have  never  been  able  satis- 
factorily to  determine,  but  it  feels  exactly  as  though 
some  one  was  giving  a  series  of  short  heavy  jerks  to  the 
line  at  intervals  of  three  or  four  seconds  apart.  This 
may  continue  for  a  minute  or  more  without  a  break. 
Sometimes  I  have  thought  it  was  caused  by  the  fish 
opening  and  then  closing  its  mouth  with  a  sudden  em- 
phasis— gasping,  so  to  speak.  Again  I  have  attributed 
it  to  its  swinging  its  head  from  side  to  side.  It  oc- 
curs not  when  the  fish  is  running,  but  when  it  sulks — 
when  it  sticks  to  the  bottom  as  though  it  was  glued  there, 
and  defies  every  effort  of  the  angler  to  move  it.  Under 
these  circumstances  how  promptly  does  the  first  jig  para- 
lyze the  angler's  efforts  !  So  sudden,  so  powerful,  so  un- 
like anything  in  the  ordinary  course  of  procedure  is  it; 
so  well  calculated  to  break  the  salmon's  neck,  and  stave 
the  angler's  tackle  all  to  pieces  does  it  seem,  that  the 
aggressive  is  at  once  abandoned  for  the  timid  defensive, 
and  doubt  and  anxiety  rule  the  hour. 

Again  and  again  has  Uncle  Remus's  story  of  the  Terra- 
pin come  into  my  mind  when  so  engaged. 

"  '  What  ails  yer  now.  Brer  Terrapin  ? '  say«  Brer  Fox, 
sezee. 

" '  Tuck  a  walk  de  udder  day,  en  man  came  along  an 
sot  de  fiel  afire.  Lor,  Brer  Fox,  you  dunner  wat  trubble 
is,'  sez  Brer  Terrapin,  sezee. 

"  *  How  you  git  out  de  fire.  Brer  Terrapin  ? '  sez  Brer 
Fox,  sezee. 

" '  Sot  en  tuck  it.  Brer  Fox,'  sez  Brer  Terrapin;  *  sot  en 
tuck  it.' " 

When  a  salmon  jigs,  I  can  recommend  no  other  or  bet- 
ter course  than  to  follow  the  example  of  "  Brer  Terrapin." 


154  The  American  Salmon-Jisherman. 

Pernaps  what  remains  to  be  said  may  be  best  presented 
in  narrative  form,  since  a  recapitulation  of  the  points  al- 
ready given  may  be  included,  and  the  whole  process  of 
taking  a  salmon  may  be  described  as  a  unit.  Though 
some  of  the  events  here  combined  really  occurred  on  dif- 
ferent occasions,  still  the  tale  is  true  to  nature  in  every 
particular,  and  no  pains  shall  be  spared  to  make  it  typical 
— indeed  that  it  might  really  be  typical  is  the  sole  reason 
why  it  is  not  confined  to  any  one  single  experience  in  its 
entirety. 

With  Tom,  the  presiding  genius,  in  the  stern,  the 
angler  in  the  middle,  and  Peter  in  the  bow,  the  canoe  is 
anchored  at  the  head  of  a  "  salmon-pool."  The  water  is 
from  three  to  six  feet  deep,  clear  as  crystal,  and  flowing 
at  the  rate  of  perhaps  three  miles  an  hour  over  a  clean 
stony  and  gravelly  bottom.  On  the  right,  as  the  angler 
faces  down  stream,  the  bank  is  perhaps  a  hundred  feet 
distant,  w^hile  on  the  other  side  an  unbroken  expanse  of 
more  or  less  rapid,  and  in  places  deeper  water,  extends 
to  an  island  a  quarter  of  a  mile  distant.  A  heavy  rapid, 
with  waves  about  two  feet  high,  terminates  the  pool 
below,  while  above  the  water  differs  but  little  from  that 
of  the  "  pool  "  itself. 

Again  and  again  has  the  canoe  been  dropped  down 
with  the  current  to  afford  the  angler  a  fresh  field  upon 
which  he  may  display  his  fly,  but  without  result.  At 
last,  "  when  he  least  expects  it  most,"  the  water  boils  in 
the  neighborhood  of  his  "Silver  Doctor,"  his  heart  gives 
a  bound,  and  then  seems  to  stop  its  action,  for  the  fly  is 
untouched.  For  a  few  seconds  he  moves  the  fly  in  the 
subsiding  swirl,  hoping  the  fish  may  turn  and  take  it,  but 


Sahnon-JisJmig — Catching  the  Fish,  155 

hoping  in  vain.  The  line  is  then  drawn  through  the 
rings — not  reeled  in — the  slack  falling  on  the  bottom  of 
the  canoe,  until  the  fly  is  regained.* 

"A  fine  fish,"  says  Tom,  with  a  disappointed  air;  "a 
fine  fish  altogether — altogether  a  fine  fish,"  for  repetition 
is  an  Indian's  idea  of  rhetorical  emphasis.  "Now  we 
rest  him  little  bit — give  him  little  fly,  p'raps  we  get  him 
anyhow." 

Out  comes  the  watch,  and  five  minutes,  each  seemingly 
of  abnormal  length,  are  allowed  to  elapse.  Then  the 
angler  begins  again,  cast  following  cast  over  barren 
water,  until  the  slack  line  is  all  out,  and  the  exact  range 
of  the  rise  is  again  in  hand.  Then  follows  a  cast  about 
twenty  feet  to  one  side  of  the  appointed  spot,  and  a 
smaller  "Silver  Doctor"  careers  in  a  most  appetizing 
manner  across  the  pool,  passing  in  its  orbit  over  the 
place  where  the  rise  occurred. 

The  fish  does  not  take  it,  though  he  acknowledges  its 
presence,  as  the  disturbed  state  of  the  water  shows.  In 
with  the  fly,  rest  him  five  minutes  more;  and  try  him 
with  a  "Jock  Scott."  He  will  not  take  it.  Rest  him 
again,  and  try  a  "  Black  Dose."  It  is  in  vain.  We  fish 
over  him,  as  if  he  did  not  exist,  and  finish  off  the  pool. 
It  has  been  covered  to  its  very  foot  without  result,  and 
three  quarters  of  an  hour  or  more  have  elapsed.  Then, 
making  a  wide  circuit,  we  anchor  well  above  where  we 
had  the  rise,  and  casting  but  once  to  pach  side  with  a 
given  length  of  line,  we  gradually  work  down  till  our  old 
antagonist  is  within  reach. 


*  More  than  one  fly  is  seldom  used  in  Salmon-fishing  on  this  side 
of  the  Atlantic. 


156  The  American  Salmon-fisherman. 

The  fly  sweeps  over  him,  he  rolls,  he  seizes  it,  and  bears 
it  downward  with  him.  A  few  yards  of  line  draw  slowly 
from  the  reel,  to  the  free  action  of  which  no  impediment 
is  offered.  The  rod  is  raised  to  meet  the  demonstration 
that  we  know,  though  he  seems  so  indifferent  now,  will 
not  be  long  postponed.  The  anchor  is  at  once  lifted,  and 
the  canoe  is  brought  in  close  against  the  bank. 

All  is  suspense — what  is  he  about  to  do  ?  for  so  far  he 
has  acted  as  though  the  fly  had  been  quite  forgotten. 
The  inexperienced  may  w^onder  at  his  apparent  apathy, 
but  he  who  has  been  there  before  feels  as  though  the 
heavens  were  about  to  fall,  and  waits  for  them  to  come. 
It  comes;  slowly  the  reel  speaks — faster — faster — the 
handle  becomes  but  a  blur  of  light,  and  the  voice  of  the 
click  rises  to  a  scream.  The  line  melts  away  from  the 
reel  like  salt  in  water,  and  the  coil  that  was  nearly  four 
inches  in  diameter  is  now  three — two — one — will  he  never 
stop  ?  "  Go  for  him,  Tom — go  for  him,  or  the  beggar 
will  break  us  !"  And  the  canoe  starts  in  pursuit  with  all 
the  speed  two  powerful  paddles  can  impart. 

When  scarcely  ten  yards  out  of  the  hundred  and  twenty- 
four  remain  in  reserve,  away  across  the  river  a  fragment 
of  silver,  apparently  about  a  foot  long,  soars  into  the  air, 
and  falls  back  into  the  water  with  a  splash.  The  line 
ceases  to  be  withdrawn,  and,  taking  immediate  advantage 
of  the  possibility,  it  is  recovered  as  rapidly  as  the  handle 
of  the  reel  can  be  manipulated,  yet  with  every  precaution 
that  each  turn  is  distributed  evenly  and  solidly  on  the 
spool.  For  this  is  but  the  overture  of  the  opera,  so  to 
speak,  and  again  and  again  will  the  line  be  snatched  from 
us  until  almost  the  bare  axle  of  the  reel  appears. 

Thus  two  thirds  of  the  line  are  recovered,  and   the 


Salmon-fishing — Catching  the  Fish.  157 

angler  breathes  again — supporting  his  rod,  doubled  up 
under  all  the  strain  he  dares  impart,  with  the  butt  against 
liis  body. 

Again  the  fish  starts — this  time  up  stream,  the  reel 
shrieking  as  it  parts  with  the  line.  Wild  is  the  angler's 
joy,  to  be  succeeded  by  doubt,  and  then  by  anxiety  as  the 
quantity  of  line  in  reserve  grows  less  and  less,  and  the 
fish  seems  to  have  no  idea  of  stopping.  A  second  time 
the  canoe  is  forced  to  follow,  and  once  more  the  fish  con- 
cludes his  run  by  bounding  into  air  once — twice — thrice. 

Again  the  line  is  recovered  all  but  about  thirty  yards, 
when  away  he  starts  across  the  river,  if  possible  more 
rabid  than  ever,  finishing  with  another  jump  or  two.  The 
line  is  then  recovered  almost  altogether,  never  omitting, 
no  matter  how  hurriedly  the  act  may  be  performed,  so  to 
distribute  it  upon  the  spool  that  it  will  be  free  to  render 
again  without  the  slightest  hitch. 

Then  Tom  says,  "  We  will  have  to  take  him  through  the 
rapids — no  landing-place  here." 

That  the  fish  will  take  us  up  on  some  of  the  neighbor- 
ing hills  seems  fully  as  probable,  but  the  effort  must  be 
made.  The  canoe  is  run  into  an  eddy,  then  shoved  into 
the  quick  water,  and  down  we  go  bounding  like  a  cork 
over  the  waves  at  the  mercy  of  the  fierce  current. 

The  fish  follows  quietly,  as  though  he  liked  it;  but  no, 
he  has  changed  his  mind;  he  dashes  down  stream  and 
obliquely  across  it  with  the  speed  of  a  race-horse — at 
least  it  seems  so,  for  the  whizzing  line  trends  in  that 
direction.  But  what  is  that?  Away  up  above  us  and 
half  across  the  river,  a  salmon  bolts  into  the  air.  "Did 
you  see  that,  Tom? — we'll  go  for  that  fellow  when  we 
finish  with  this  one."     How  Tom  laughs ! — and  it  is  not 


158  The  Amei'ican  Salmon-fisherman, 

without  protracted  effort  that  he  finally  forces  us  to  be- 
lieve that  that  was  the  fish  we  are  fast  to.  It  is  so  very 
far  off,  and  in  so  different  a  direction  from  that  indicated 
by  the  bending  rod  and  the  running  line,  that  it  seems  im- 
possible that  it  can  be  so,  though  so  it  is. 

So  the  canoe  drops  down  with  the  swift  current,  halting 
at  times  as  the  fish  becomes  very  obstreperous,  and  then 
resuming  its  course.  And  the  salmon  follows,  sometimes 
freely,  sometimes  reluctantly,  and  sometimes  in  absolute 
rebellion  compelling  us  to  let  him  have  his  own  way  for 
a  time. 

We  near  a  landing-place.  The  canoe  is  brought  to  the 
bank,  and  we  take  to  the  shore  with  every  precaution  that 
the  pressure  is  not  slackened  upon  the  line  for  an  instant, 
and  that  the  foot  makes  no  slip  on  the  smooth  stones. 

The  fish  now  exhibits  symptoms  of  discouragement, 
and  gradually  yields  until  he  is  not  forty  feet  from  the 
bank.  But  there  he  draws  the  line,  and  not  another  foot 
will  he  yield.  Were  he  changed  to  one  of  the  rocks  im- 
bedded in  the  bottom  of  the  stream  he  could  not  seem 
more  immovable.     It  is  a  case  of  the  "  sulks." 

The  rod,  which  heretofore  has  been  kept  in  an  approxi- 
mately perpendicular  plane,  is  now  held  almost  horizon- 
tally that  the  strain  may  as  far  as  possible  coincide  with 
the  direction  in  which  we  wish  to  move  the  fish.  The 
bend  of  the  rod,  however,  and  the  tension  it  imparts  to 
the  line  remain  unchanged.  We  walk  down  below  him 
fifteen  or  twenty  feet.  This  disturbs  his  equilibrium. 
He  turns  his  head  toward  the  strain  for  a  moment's  res- 
pite, and  instantly  the  implacable  current  sets  him  down 
and  inshore.  As  we  feel  him  yield  we  walk  back  from 
the  water,  thus  keeping  up  the  tension.    He  struggles  and 


Salmon-fishing — Catchincj  the  Fish.  159 

regains  control  of  himself,  when  we  first  walk  toward  the 
bank  taking  in  the  line  we  have  gained,  and  then  move 
down  stream  as  before.  Again  we  work  below  him  with 
the  same  result,  and  again,  and  again.  He  is  now  not 
twenty  feet  from  the  bank.* 

But  clearly  he  is  now  of  the  mind  that  this  thing  has 
gone  quite  far  enough,  for  he  is  as  immovable  as  the 
everlasting  hills.  Ten — fifteen — twenty  minutes  pass,  and 
it  is  still  "pull  Dick,  pull  Devil."  Our  arms  now  ache  as 
though  they  would  drop  off  at  the  elbow-joint.  "  Stone 
him,  Tom — do  something — I  can't  stand  this  much  longer." 
So  Tom  tosses  in  stone  after  stone — none  of  them  large 
and  none  of  them  thrown  with  violence,  lest  they  strike 
and  part  the  leader — seemingly  without  effect. 

At  last  the  reel  begins  to  move.     It  speaks  slowly  at 

*  At  this  point  in  the  contest  the  angler  may  with  profit  recall 
that  law  of  mechanics,  which  teaches  that  the  resistance  offered  by 
the  click  to  the  withdrawal  of  the  line  varies  with  the  diameter  of 
the  coil  of  line  on  the  reel.  With  my  own  reel,  for  example,  wlien 
this  diameter  is  one  inch,  the  salmon  must,  to  gain  another  foot, 
pull  three  pounds  ;  while  when  the  fish  is  but  thirty  or  forty  feet 
from  the  tip,  a  pull  of  half  a  pound  only  is  necessary.  Sulkiness  in 
a  salmon  is  no  more  agreeable  than  a  like  manifestation  in  a  child. 
When  the  salmon  is  close  at  hand,  then,  it  is  well  to  remonstrate 
with  a  little  more  firmness  than  the  unaided  resistance  of  the  click 
will  permit.  This  is  best  done  by  supporting  the  rod  with  one  hand, 
and  gently  pinching  the  line  above  the  reel  with  the  thumb  and  fore- 
finger of  the  other.  The  pressure  should  but  add  say  a  pound  to 
the  resistance  of  the  click,  not  check  the  line  absolutely.  The  mo- 
ment the  salmon  evinces  a  change  of  tactics,  the  line  should  be  re- 
leased. 

Where  fish  run  twenty  pounds  or  over,  a  socket  at  the  waist  to 
support  the  butt  of  the  rod  will  add  greatly  to  the  comfort  of  the 
angler  during  a  protracted  contest. 


160  The  American  Salmoii-fisherman. 

first,  like  the  pendulum  of  a  clock — you  can  count  each 
tooth  of  the  ratchet-wheel  by  the  sound — then  faster — 
faster,  till  again  it  screams,  and  the  line  wilts  away  upon 
the  reel  like  dew  before  the  sun. 

"  Quick — the  canoe — the  canoe,"  and  we  shamble  down 
the  bank,  one  eye  on  the  fast  vanishing  line,  and  one 
upon  the  slippery  path  we  are  forced  to  follow.  At  last, 
at  the  very  crisis  of  possible  defeat,  the  canoe  reaches  us. 
We  tumble  in,  and  are  off  after  a  fish  apparently  as  fresh 
as  at  the  very  outset. 

For  another  half-hour  we  fight  him  from  the  canoe, 
working  him  down  stream,  he  running,  jumping,  and 
sulking,  until  we  land  again  on  the  other  side  of  the  river 
three-quarters  of  a  mile  below  where  we  first  took  to  the 
bank. 

We  again  try  to  work  him  in  by  the  same  tactics,  but 
our  first  effort  comes  to  a  stand  at  once.  He  begins  to 
"jig" — a  series  of  short,  heavy,  and  sudden  jerks  fill  us 
full  with  apprehension,  and  it  is  plain  we  must  wait  his 
pleasure  still.  He  stops,  and  we  begin.  He  begins,  and 
we  stop.  At  last  he  yields,  and  gradually  step  by  step 
swings  in  toward  the  bank.  Slowly  Tom  apj^roaches, 
gaff  in  hand,  no  part  of  him  in  motion  except  his  feet. 
The  salmon  is  now  a  pretty  sick  fish,  and  again  and  again 
rolls  upon  his  side,  though  recovering  himself  almost  im- 
mediately. 

He  sees  Tom.  At  once  he  recovers  and  is  off  again. 
But  the  pristine  vigor  of  his  rush  is  no  longer  there.  He 
can  take  no  more  than  half  the  line  before  his  failing 
strength  compels  a  halt.  So  we  follow  him  down  the 
bank,  coaxing  him  in  when  we  can,  letting  him  go  when 
we  cannot,  playing  the  great  game  of  give  and  take. 


Salmon-Jlshing — Catching  the  Fish.  ici 

Once  more  we  work  him  in  short,  showing  increased 
signs  of  distress.  But  again  he  sees  Tom — it  is  wonder- 
ful liow  the  sahnon  hate  him — and  again  he  is  off.  But 
we  are  at  the  end  of  the  landing-place,  and  so  heavy  a 
fish  could  not  be  drawn  up  against  the  current  though  he 
should  remain  perfectly  passive.  We  must  take  to  the 
canoe,  and  try  him  again  at  the  next  landing-place,  some 
half-mile  farther  down. 

He  is  quite  discouraged  now,  and  does  as  he  is  bid  with 
little  remonstrance.  We  land  again,  and  though  he  sulks 
some,  we  work  him  slowly  in  without  difficulty.  Tom 
anticipates  about  where  he  will  afrive,  and  motionless 
awaits  him  gaff  in  hand.  Peter  hunts  for  a  long  thin 
stone.  The  exhausted  fish  rolls  on  his  side,  when  a  well- 
timed  impulse  of  the  rod  slews  him  still  nearer  the  shore 
and  within  reach.  Like  a  flash  the  cruel  gaff  is  around  his 
backbone,  he  lies  on  the  bank,  the  lad  hammers  him  on 
the  head  with  the  stone,  the  scales  show  thirty-two 
pounds,  and  we  drop  the  rod  and  sprawl  out  on  the  bank 
utterly  exhausted,  after  a  contest  of  one  hour  and  fifty 
minutes. 

Now  that  it  is  written  I  find  that  I  have  departed  some- 
what in  this  narrative  from  my  original  purpose.  Though 
the  leading  features  of  all  are  more  or  less  alike,  still  every 
capture  of  a  salmon  has  its  individualities.  To  where  we 
made  the  first  landing  our  narrative  is  strictly  typical,  and 
its  counterpart  has  occurred  and  will  occur  again  and 
again  to  every  salmon-angler  when  fishing  in  a  similar 
locality.  There  a  picture,  the  most  vivid  of  my  recollec- 
tions of  salmon-fishing,  rose  before  me,  and  I  uncon- 
sciously drifted  into  describing  a  particular  incident — 
the  capture  of  my  largest  fish.  Though  every  salmon 
11 


162  The  American  Sahnon  fisher rnan, 

does  not  weigh  thirty-two  pounds,  and  though  every  sal- 
mon does  not  show  such  undaunted  resolution  for  so  long 
a  time,  still  perhaps  it  will  be  as  well  to  let  it  stand. 
The  difference  will  be  rather  in  quantity  than  quality, 
and  moreover  the  case  teaches  an  important  supplement- 
ary lesson  well  worthy  to  be  borne  in  mind.  This  fish 
was  treated  from  the  first  as  though  lightly  hooked.  Any 
other  course  must  have  been  fatal,  since  the  moment  it 
touched  the  bank  the  hook  dropped  from  its  mouth. 

Such  is  salmon-fishing.  If  there  is  greater  fun  in  this 
vale  of  tears  I  do  not  know  it.  Better  fortune  I  can- 
not wish  the  reader,  than  that  in  sound  health  and  with 
sound  tackle  he  may  in  the  near  future  fasten  a  forty- 
pounder,  and  bring  him  safely  to  gaff  after  a  contest  in 
which  each  party  thereto  has  striven  to  the  uttermost  for 
the  victory. 


INDEX. 


Action  of  salmon-rods,  31,  144. 
Advertising  for  salmon-lishing,  13. 
American  salmon -rivers,  10. 
Appearance  of  flies  to  salmon,  94- 

99. 
Attendants  (Guides),  8,  66. 

B. 

Balance  of  salmon-rods,  31. 
Bank-fishins:,  130,  146 
Black- flies,  81. 
Boats,  75. 
Braided  leaders.  60. 


C. 
Canadian  salmon-rivers,   list  of 
18-20. 
map  of.  follows  p.  24. 
Canoe,  fishing  from,  136,  154. 
Canoes,  75. 
Caprice  in  salmon,  90. 
Cast,  longest  recorded,  140. 
Cast,  the  switch,  121. 
Casting  the  fly,  115. 
theory  of,  26. 
Casting,  effect  of  current  on,  29, 
133. 
right- and  left  handed,  119. 

137. 
where  to  cast,  128,  148. 
Choice  of  flies,  99-103. 
of  gaff,  70. 
of  hooks,  105. 


Choice  of  leaders,  55. 

of  lines,  50. 

of  reels,  45. 

of  rings  and  guides,  43. 

of  salmon-gut,  55. 

of  salmon  rod,  31,44, 144. 
Click  of  salmon  reels,  47,  49. 
Clothing,  for  fishing,  79. 

water-proof,  80,  81 
Coats,  rubber,  80. 
Color  of  leaders,  63. 
Construction  of  gaff,  70. 
Cost  of  salmon-fishing,  7, 15. 

of  salmon  lines,  51. 

D. 

Depletion  of  salmon  rivers,  9,  18. 
Distance  to  be  cast.  26,  140. 
Drags  on  salmon  reels,  49. 
Dyeing  leaders,  63. 

E. 

Elasticity  and  stiffness  of  rods, 
34,36. 

English  rods,  41. 

Experiments  on  appearance  of  ar- 
tificial flies,  92-99. 

Eyed  fish-hooks,  111. 


Fcn-uled  vs.  spliced  rods,  33. 
j  Fenules  for  rods,  38. 
I  treatment  of,  in  use,  44. 

I  Fish,  caprice  in,  90. 


164 


Index. 


Fish,  visual  powers  of,  92. 
Fisli-hooks,  105. 

rules  for  selecting,  105. 
Fishing,   directions  for.     {See  in 
detail  'under  Salmon.) 
from  bank,  130,  146. 
from  canoe,  136,  154. 
method  of,  recapitulated  in 
narrative  form,  154. 
Flies  (artificial),  89. 

experiments  on  appearance 

to  fish,  92,  99. 

how  attached  to  leader.  111. 

manipulation  when  fishing, 

103,  124,  130,  131,  146, 

155. 

one  only  used  in  salmon - 

fishing,  155. 
selection  of,  at  home,  103. 
selection  of,  on  stream,  99. 
when  and  why  taken  by 
salmon,  99.  101,  126. 
Flies  (black-flies,  etc.),  81. 
Fly-casting,  115. 

G. 

Gaff,  65. 

construction  of,  70. 

how  used,  74. 
Gaffing,  from  bank,  77, 157,  160. 

from  boat,  74. 
Gloves,  85. 
Gnats,  81. 

Guides  (attendants),  8,  66. 
Guides,  for  rods,  43. 
Gut,  to  select,  55. 

testing,  57. 

H. 

Hats,  79. 

Haunts  of  salmon,  128. 

Head -nets,  84. 

Hiring  of  salmon  fishing,  13. 

Hooks,  105. 

eyed.  111. 


Hooks,  O'Shaughnessy,     Limer- 
ick,  and    Sproat    com- 
pared, 108. 
the  Pennell,  109. 

I. 

Ink  dye  for  leaders,  63. 
Insect-pests,  81. 
Insect  repellant,  85. 

J. 
Jigging  by  salmon,  150. 
Jumping  by  salmon,  150. 

K. 

Knots  on  leaders,  62. 
Knotting  leader  to  fly,  112. 


Leaders,  54. 

color  of,  63. 

how  fastened  to  fly,  111. 

how  tp  dye,  63. 

knots  of.  62. 

length  of,  61. 

manufacture  of,  62. 

testing,  57. 

twisted   and  braided,  60, 
61. 
Leasing  salmon-fishing,  13. 
Length  of  leaders,  61. 

of  line,  47. 

of  practical  cast,  26,  140. 
Line,  advantage  of  heavy,  32. 

cost  of,  51. 

how  to  splice,  52. 

length  of,  47. 

new^  form  of,  54. 

spliced,  51. 

weight  of,  53. 
Lines,  50. 

List  of  Canadian  salmon-rivers, 
18-20. 

of  Maine  rivers,  10. 


Index. 


165 


M. 

Maine  salmon-rivers,  10. 
Making  salmon-rods,  43. 
Map  of  Canadian  salmon-rivers, 

folloim  p.  24. 
Mosquitoes,  82. 
Mosquito-nets,  87. 

O. 
Ointment  (insect-repellant),  85. 
Overhead  cast,  115. 


Playing  a  salmon.     {See  Salmon- 
fishing.) 
Pools,  salmon,  128. 
Preservation  of  rod,  44. 

R. 

Range  of  efficient  cast,  26. 
Reels,  45. 

capacity  of  spool,  47. 
click  of,  47,  49. 
drags  on,  49. 

manipulation    when    fish- 
ing, 155, 157. 
Rings  for  rods,  43. 
Rods.     {See  Salmon-rods.) 

single-handed,  for  salmon, 
30. 
Rubber  coats,  80. 
Rubbers  for  wad  i  ng,  81 . 
Rules  for  selection  of  fish-hooks, 
105. 
for  selection  of  salmon-flies, 
99-103. 
S. 
Salmon,  caprice  in,  90. 

conduct  when  fastened,  48, 

150,  152, 156. 
haunts  of,  128. 
growth  of,  9. 
timidity   of,   compared  to 

trout,  126,  145,  149. 
visual  powers  of,  92,  125. 


Salmon,  when  and  why  they  take 

the  fly,  99,  126,  101. 
Salmon-fishing,  124. 
cost  of,  7,  15. 
from  bank,  130,  146,  158. 
from  canoe,  136,  154. 
how  and  where  to  obtain. 

13. 
method  of,  recapitulated  in 

narrative  form,  154. 
Salmon,  jigging  when  fastened, 

150,  152,  160. 
I  leaping  when  fastened,  150, 

156,  157. 
playing  a,  134,   146,   150, 

152,  156. 
striking,  28,  29,  142. 
sulking,  158,  159. 
their  method  of  taking  fly, 

145. 
Salmon-flies,  89,  99,  103,  105. 

appearance  of,  to  salmon, 

94-99. 
manipulation    when    fish- 
ing, 103,  124,  130,  131, 

146,  155. 
selection  at  home,  103. 
selection  on  stream,  99. 
Salmon-lines,  32.     {See  Lines.) 
Salmon  pools,  128. 
Salmon-rivers,  American,  10. 
Canadian,  18-20. 
depletion  of,  9,  18. 
map  of  QBxm^vaLn,  follows  p. 

24. 
Salmon- rods,  25. 

action  of,  31,  144. 
balance  of,  31. 
choice  of,  31,  44,  144. 
curve  of,  32,  144. 
ferrules.  38. 
joining,  33. 
making,  43. 
preservation  of,  44. 
rings  and  guides  for,  43. 


166 


Index. 


Salmon-rods,  spliced,  33. 

stiffness  and  elasticity,  34, 

theoretical  efficiency  of,  26, 
36. 

tip-rings,  43. 
Salting  game-fish,  30. 
Selecting  fish-hooks,  105. 

flies  at  home,  103. 

flies  on  stream,  99. 

gaff,  70. 

gut,  55. 

leaders,  55. 

lines,  50. 

reels,  45. 

rings  and  guides,  43. 

rods,  31,  44,  144. 
Single-handed  rod  for  salmon,  30. 
Spliced  and  ferruled  rods  com- 
pared, 37. 
Spliced  lines,  51. 
Spliced  rods.  33. 
Staining  gut,  63. 
Striking  fish,  28,  29,  142. 


Sulking,  158,  159. 
Switch-cast,  121. 


Testing  gut  and  leaders,  57. 

salmon-rods,  31. 
Theoretical  eflSciency  of  fly -rods, 

26 
Tip-rings  for  salmon-rods,  43. 
Trout-rods  for  salmon,  30. 
Twisted  leaders,  60,  61. 

V. 

Visibility  of  flies  to  salmon,  94- 

99. 
Visual  power  of  salmon,  92,  115. 

W. 

Wading,  81. 

Water-proof  clothing,  80,  81. 
Wind,   effect  on  salmon  fishing, 
53. 


THE   END. 


FLY-RODS  AND   FLY-TACKLE. 

Suggestions  as  to  their  Manufacture  and  Use.  By  Henry 
P.  Wells.  Illustrated,  pp.  364.  Post  8vo,  Illumi- 
nated Cloth,  $2  50. 

Mr.  Wells  has  devoted  more  time  and  attention  to  the  materials  used  in 
fly-fishing  than  any  person  we  know  of,  and  his  experience  is  well  set  forth 
in  this  most  valuable  book.  *  *  *  The  author  is  an  amateur  rod-maker  who 
has  experimented  with  every  wood  known  to  rod  manufacturers,  as  well  as 
with  some  that  are  not  known  to  them,  and  therefore  he  is  an  undoubted 
authority  on  the  subject.  This  chapter  and  the  one  following,  which  gives 
directions  in  rod-making,  forms  the  most  perfect  treatise  on  rods  extant. 
*  *  *  The  book  is  one  of  great  value,  and  will  take  its  place  as  a  standard 
authority  on  all  points  of  which  it  treats,  and  we  cannot  commend  it  too 
highly. — Forest  and  /Stream,  N.  Y. 

Since  Izaak  Walton  lingered  over  themes  piscatorial,  we  have  learned  to 
expect,  in  all  essays  on  the  gentle  art  of  angling,  a  certain  daintiness  and 
elegance  of  hterary  form  as  well  as  technical  utility.  Publisiier  and  author 
have  co-operated  to  meet  these  traditional  requirements  in  "  Fly-Rods  and 
Fly-Tackle."  *  *  *  Mr.  Wells's  competence  to  expound  the  somewhat  in- 
tricate principles  and  delicate  processes  of  fly-fishing  will  be  plain  to  any 
reader  who  himself  has  some  practical  acquaintance  with  the  art  discussed. 
The  value  of  the  author's  instructions  and  suggestions  is  signally  eniianced 
by  their  minuteness  and  lucidity. — iV".  Y.  Sun. 

A  complete  n>anual  for  the  ambitious  lover  of  fishing  for  trout.  *  *  *  All 
lovers  of  fly-fishing  should  have  Mr.  Wells's  book  in  their  outfit  for  the 
sport  that  is  near  at  hand. — Philadelphia  Bulletin. 

Mr.  Wells  reveals  to  us  the  mysteries  of  lines,  leaders,  and  reels,  rods, 
rod  material,  and  rod-making.  He  lets  us  into  the  secret  of  making  re- 
pairs, and  gives  all  due  directions  for  casting  the  fly.  *  *  *  Moreover,  Mr. 
Wells  writes  in  an  attractive  style.  There  is  a  certain  charm  in  the  heart- 
iness and  grace  wherewith  he  expresses  his  appreciation  of  those  beauties 
of  nature  which  the  angler  has  so  unlimited  an  opportunity  of  enjoying. 
Thus  what  may  be  called  not  only  a  technical,  but  also  a  scientific,  knowl- 
edge of  his  subject  is  combined  with  a  keen  delight  in  hill,  stream,  and  for- 
est for  the  sake  of  the  varied  loveliness  they  display. — iV.  Y.  Telegram. 

A  book  of  practical  hints  about  the  manufacture  and  use  of  anglers' 
gear.  Fish-hooks,  lines,  leaders,  rods  and  rod-making,  repairs,  flies  and 
fly-fishing,  are  among  the  important  subjects  discussed  with  great  fulness. 
The  essay  on  "Casting  the  Fly"  and  "Miscellaneous  Suggestions"  are 
rich  in  points  for  beginners.  It  is  to  the  latter,  and  not  to  the  experts, 
that  Mr.  Wells  modestly  dedicates  his  work.  His  object  is  to  supply  pre- 
cisely the  kind  of  information  of  which  he  stood  so  much  in  need  during 
his  own  novitiate. — iV.  Y.  Journal  of  Commei-ce. 


Published  by  HARPER  &  BROTHERS,  New  York. 

fl®-  The  above  work  sent  by  mail,  postage  prejjaid,  to  any  part  of  the  United  Slates 
or  Canada,  on  receipt  of  the  price. 


UPLAND  AND  MEADOW. 

A   Poaetquissings   Chronicle.     By  Charles  C.  Abbott, 
M.D.     pp.  X.,  398.     12rao,  Ornamental  Cloth,  81  50. 

Dr.  Abbott  studies  most  delightfully  the  question  of  whether  birds  re- 
main Avith  us  during  the  winter;  whether  hibernation  is  as  fixed  a  habit 
with  any  creature  as  is  supposed.  Then  follow  studies  of  the  habits  of 
marsh  -  wrens,  grakles,  red -birds,  toads,  humming-birds;  and  an  autumn 
diary  remarkably  full  of  interest  and  with  many  delightfully  poetical  hab- 
its of  expression,  together  with  accounts  of  conversations  with  the  country 
people  so  quaint  and  curious  as  to  give  a  great  personal  interest  to  these 
studies.  Any  one  with  the  slightest  interest  in  natural  history  will  be 
charmed  with  this  book ;  and  those  who  care  very  little  for  natural  his- 
tory in  itself  will  find  so  much  other  matter  that  whoever  and  of  whatever 
turn  of  mind  takes  up  this  book  will  not  willingly  lay  it  down. —  Christian 
A  dvocate,  N.  Y. 

We  commend  this  book  as  inspiring,  refreshing,  and  delightful  in  its 
record  and  humor  both. — Philadelphia  Ledger  and  Transcript. 

The  author  has  d^  faculty  for  using  his  eyes  and  ears  to  excellent  advan- 
tage in  his  rambles  over  "  Upland  and  Meadow,"  and  a  very  entertaining 
way  of  recording  what  he  sees  and  hears.  ...  It  is  worth  reading  indeed. 
—  The  Examiner,  N.  Y. 

Here  is  a  modern  Thoreau  with  an  imagination  the  like  of  which  Tho- 
reau  did  not  possess.  Things  happen  to  him  in  the  most  accommodating 
way,  for  they  manage  to  give  each  story  of  bird  or  beast  a  point. — iV.  Y. 
Times. 

Delightful  reading  for  students  and  lovers  of  out-door  nature.  .  .  .  Here 
the  author  discourses  with  the  greatest  charm  of  style  about  wood  and 
stream,  marsh-wrens,  the  spade-foot  toad,  summer,  winter,  trumpet-creepers 
and  ruby  throats,  September  sunshine,  a  colony  of  grakles,  the  queer  little 
dwellers  in  the  water,  and  countless  other  things  that  the  ordinary  eye 
passes  by  without  notice.  .  .  .  The  book  may  be  heartily  commended  to 
every  reader  of  taste,  and  to  every  admirer  of  graceful  and  nervous  Eng- 
lish.— Saturday  Evening  Gazette,  Boston. 


Published  by  HARPER  &  BROTHERS,  New  Yorx. 

IlAKrER  &  Broth KR8  will  send  the  above  work  hy  mail,  postage  prepaid,  to 
any  part  of  the  United  States  or  Canada,  on  receipt  of  the  price. 


BOOKS  ON  GAMES  AND  SPORTS. 


How  to  Play  Whist. 

With  the  Laws  and  Etiquette  of  Wliist,  Whist -Whittlings  and 
Forty  fully-annotated  Games.  By  "Five  of  Clubs"  (Richakd  A. 
Proctor).    A  New  and  Enlarged  Edition.     IGino,  Paper,  25  cents. 

Laws  and  Eegulations  of  Short  Whist. 

Laws  and  Regulations  of  Short  Whist,  Adopted  by  the  Washington 
Club  of  Paris.  Compiled  from  the  Best  Modern  Authorities,  and  as 
Played  in  tiie  Principal  Clubs  of  London  and  Paris.  With  Maxims  and 
Advice  for  Beginners.    By  W.  P.  Fetridgi:.    12rao,  Cloth,  75  cents. 

Ames's  Modern  Whist. 

Modern  Whist.  By  Fishkr  Ames.  With  the  Laws  of  the  Game. 
32mo,  Paper,  20  cents  ;  Cloth,  35  cents. 

Bartlett's  New  Games  for  Parlor  and  Lawn. 

New  Games  for  Parlor  and  Lawn,  with  a  few  Old  Friends  in  a  New 
Dress.     By  George  B.  Bartlett.     16mo,  Cloth,  $1  00. 

NewelPs  Games  and  Songs  of  American  Children. 

Games  and  Songs  of  American  Children,  Collected  and  Compared 
by  William  Wells  Newell.     8vo,  Cloth,  $1  50. 

Alden's  Canoe  and  Flying  Proa. 

The  Canoe  and  the  Flying  l^roa ,  or.  Cheap  Cruising  and  Safe  Sail- 
ing. By  W.  L.  Alden.  With  Illustrations.  32mo,  Paper,  25  cents; 
Cloth,  40  cents. 

Murphy's  Sporting  Adventures  in  the  Far  West. 

Sporting  Adventures  in  the  Far  West.  By  J.  M.  Mdrphy.  Illus- 
trated.    12mo,  Cloth,  $1  50. 

Fish  and  Men  of  the  Maine  Islands. 

By  W.  H.  Bishop.     Illustrated.     12mo,  Paper,  25  cents. 

Wells's  Fly-Eods  and  Fly-Fishing. 

Fly-Rods  and  Flv-Fishing.  Suggestions  as  to  their  Manufacture  and 
Use.     By  Henry  P.  Wells.    Illustrated.     Post  8vo,  Cloth,  $2  50. 

Hallock's  Fishing  Tourist. 

The  Fishing  Tourist:  Angler's  Guide  and  Reference  Book.  By 
Charles  Hallock.     Illustrated.     Crown  8vo,  Cloth,  $2  00. 


Published  by  HARPER  &  BROTHERS,  New  York. 

I^*  Haupeb  &  BiioTUKRS  icUl  neivd  any  of  the  above  icorks  by  viail,  postage  pre- 
paid, to  any  jiart  of  the  United  States  or  Canada,  on  receipt  of  the  price. 


HOME  STUDIES  IN  NATURE. 

By  Mary  Treat,  Author  of  "Chapters  on  Ants,"  &c.    II- 
histrated.     pp.  244.     12nio,  Ornamental  Cloth,  $1  50. 

Mrs.  Treat  roams  through  the  fields  in  search  of  rare  knowledge  about 
birds,  wasps,  spiders,  and  those  wonderful  plants  that  entrap  insects  and 
thrive  on  their  juices.  Her  originality  in  these  researches  is  undoubted, 
and  she  adds  a  great  deal  to  our  stock  of  facts  for  use  in  the  interpreta- 
tion of  nature.  She  has  a  pleasant  style,  and  a  winning  knack  of  making 
disagreeable  things  seem  otherwise.  The  pictures  are  many  and  good. — 
i\\  v.  Jour7ial  of  Commerce. 

A  Avorthy  tribute  from  a  lover  of  nature  to  the  animated  world  about 
her.  It  treats  of  birds,  insects,  plants  that  consume  animals,  and  flowering 
plants.  It  has  nearly  seventy  handsome  illustrations,  and  the  stoiy  is  told 
in  fascinating  and  clearly-expressed  language.  It  is  an  admirable  work 
with  which  to  educate  a  family. — Boston  Commori wealth. 

To  those  who  have  given  attention  to  the  beauties  of  nature  as  devel- 
oped in  the  winged  world  and  the  insect  and  floral  branches,  this  little 
volume  will  be  peculiarly  grateful. — Albany  Press. 

Books  on  this  subject  are  generally  regarded  by  every  one  not  profes- 
sional scientists  as  dreadful  bores.  An  exception  must  be  made,  however, 
in  favor  of  Mrs.  Mary  Treat's  "  Home  Studies  in  Nature."  The  only 
echoes  of  science  between  the  two  covers  are  the  Latin  names  of  birds, 
insects,  and  plants ;  all  else  are  most  curious  and  readable  accounts  of 
the  doings  of  some  creatures  so  tiny  that  they  frequently  are  near  us,  and 
watching  us,  when  we  imagine  ourselves  alone.  *  *  *  This  would  be  a  capi- 
tal book  to  give  a  bright-eyed  boy  or  girl  who  complains  that  about  home 
"  there  is  nothing  to  look  at."  Adults,  however  will  also  enjoy  the  volume, 
and  may  make  their  eyesight  keener  by  reading  it. — JV.  Y.  Herald. 

The  pubhc  should  feel  glad  that  occasionally  a  man  or  a  woman  finds 
highest  pleasure  in  studying  the  ways  and  habits  of  nature,  and  publishing 
the  result  of  such  study  to  the  world.  This  is  what  Mrs.  Treat  has  done. 
*  *  *  Her  book  is  divided  into  four  parts — observations  on  birds,  habits  of 
insects,  plants  that  consume  animals,  and  flowering  plants.  It  is,  moreover, 
helped  by  nearly  seventy  illustrations,  which  in  a  work  of  this  character 
are  of  material  assistance ;  for  the  great  majority  of  readers  are  unfamil- 
iar with  the  appearance  of  the  birds,  flowers,  and  insects,  the  habits  of 
which  are  described.  The  author  shows  herself  to  be  a  keen,  conscien- 
tious, and  affectionate  observer. — iV".  Y.  Telegram. 

Mrs.  Treat  can  always  command  a  delightful  audience  ;  for  next  to  the 
pleasure  of  searching  fields,  woods,  and  streams  for  the  beautiful  or  curi- 
ous, it  is  charming  to  hear  from  so  close  an  observer  so  much  that  is  in- 
teresting and  new,  especially  when  all  is  told  with  vivacity  and  genuine 
enthusiasm.  *  *  *  The  volume  is  finely  illustrated,  and  its  contents  cannot 
tail  to  entertain  the  reader,  young  or  old,  who  has  learned,  or  is  learning, 
about  the  busy  world  out-of-doors. —  Worcester  Daily  Spy. 


Published  by  HARPER   &   BROTHERS,  New  York. 

i^~  The  above  work  sent  by  mail,  postage  prepaid,  to  any  part  of  the  United  States 
or  Canada,  on  receipt  of  the  price. 


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